God Provides

Have you ever been called to do something that you just weren't sure how you could do it? Have you ever felt the call of God to help someone but then looked at your wallet, bank account, or pantry and decided that you could not afford to help someone? We are back in a cycle of struggle that comes and goes every 20 years or so in the American society. Groceries and Gas are at all time highs and the anxiety it brings is at an all time high. For the first time in a long time alot of us are wondering how we are going to afford groceries. We dont know how we are going to afford to put gas in our vehicles to make it to work. Some people are even worried that they may be cut at work. What do you do with these feelings? Last week Art delivered a message on Gods care for us and how we should deal with anxiety. This week it is my goal through the scripture to show you how God is not limited to what you see or even the realms of what we consider possible. Today we will be in 1 Kings 17. In First Kings 17 we are going to find Elijah who has been living as God called him to next to a river that has now dried up. God told Elijah to pack up and move. Elijah does as the Lord calls him to do and he is introduced to the Widow of Zarephath. It is in this moment that God calls the widow to do something she does not believe she can do. Read with me 1 Kings 17:8-16

1 Kings 17:8–16 ESV

8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

Today you will be presented with 3 facts of this scripture. First you will see that the is The Challenge. Second you will see that there is the Concern. Lastly, you will see The Change.

The Challenge

1 Kings 17:8–11 (ESV)

1 Kings 17:8–11 ESV

8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

Can you imagine being this woman? Here you are just doing your best to survive. Just to make it through and God’s prophet shows up. His first request seems doable so you set off to do that but then the second request is something you cannot do. You look at what you have and you know that it is not possible. You cannot take care of yourself and also do what he is asking. How do you respond? What is your response? What does the Bible say our response should be. It is so important that we put the Christian life into perspective. The Christian life is not a life of ease and of comfort. The Christian life is not a separation from hell and entry into a comfortable life. As a matter of fact the Christian life will cause you to live more hell on earth than any other life. What do I mean by this? If you are truly a Christian and someone who desires to Love God and Love others you will be faced with daily challenges. Some days the challenges will be easy and do able. Other days the challenges will feel completely impossible. Not only will you face the challenges but you will also be put in a place of constant inner evaluation. A place where you have to truly decide if this life is worth it.

Walt Disney's original advisory board was filled with some pretty wise people. Those early days were tough; but that remarkable, creative visionary refused to give up.They all loved how Disney responded to disagreement. They said that Walt would occasionally present some unbelievable, extensive dream he was entertaining. Almost without exception, the members of his board would gulp, blink, and stare back at him in disbelief, resisting even the thought of such a thing. But unless every member resisted the idea, Disney usually didn't pursue it. Yes, you read that correctly. The challenge wasn't big enough to merit his time and creative energy unless they were unanimously in disagreement!

We look at Disney and while you may disagree with the way they currently are being run, we can all agree that Disney is one of the most successful businesses of all time. Walt Disney was not afraid of challenges. The Christian life is meant for challenges. It is meant of us to be stretched and torn and put back together. It is meant for us to feel success and failure. The Christian life is not an easy life. The Bible made it clear that as Christians you would be challenged. What does the Bible say about challenges?

Matthew 8:19–20 ESV

19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

James 1:2–4 ESV

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Romans 8:18 ESV

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

James 1:12 ESV

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

The Christian life is full of challenges and while many people want the blessings of God, they want it without the challenges. This widow was issued a challenge. She was asked to do something that would make her decide if it was worth it. But just like you and I she had to address her concerns with this.

The Concern

1 Kings 17:12 ESV

12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”

This woman has been asked to do something by the prophet of God. Everyone knows Elijah and what God has done with him. Elijah was a celebrity in his time. This woman is a widow and lives with her son, she is what the society would consider at the time a no body. Not only is she a nobody but she has no steady income and no way to provide for her son. This woman is out just trying to make the next meal which she knows is the last meal she can make. Then comes this big name guy and he asks her for something that she does not have the means to provide. Can you imagine being put in this position? I dont know about you but I struggle when asked by people for stuff. I have a mindset of saying does this person really need it? Can I afford it? I am always suspicious of people and always think that they have bad intentions. This is a struggle for me. I am constantly comparing what I can do based on what I have. Are you in the same boat with me? The Christian life though is not a life of what we have, it is a life of what God has. This widow was challenged to give and she based it off of what she had. Her answer to Elijah was look I only have enough for my son and I then we are going to both die of starvation, so leave me alone please. What are your concerns when following what God is calling you to do? I doubt many if any of us in this room are wondering if we are going to die of starvation. Money though is a factor for everyone in here. When someone asks for help and you feel compelled by the Lord to help are you prepared to follow through or are you like me and jumping to concerns?

I love being a father. One of the greatest things about being a father is seeing your children grow. My kids have grown so much over the years it seems like a dream because of how fast it is going. Aubrey my only daughter and my princess is our oldest. Aubrey started off with no fear. She would climb on things and jump right off. She used to love to get on the couch and see how many cushions she could jump over. I of course was not going to encourage this and as a great did I did the only smart thing. I added more cushions but in doing that I also stood on the other side to catch her if she fell. It took a little convincing her but she finally jumped and just like a scene out of a movie it went horribly0 wrong. Her right food caught the edge of the last cushion and I was talking to my dad as she made her leap so I was not watching at the moment she jumped. As she fell towards the ground I was not ready to catch her. She slammed into me knocking me back and into the coffee table. She fell and hit her little face on the ground, I fell back and broke the coffee table. I was fine and so was she but we went to the ER to have her checked any way. When her mother got home from work she almost killed me as my dad gave her every little detail of what had happened. That moment started a distrust with my daughter wanting to jump off things and trusting that I would catch her. Who could blame her?

My daughter has no reason to believe that I will catch her. She now is full of concern any time I tell her to jump and expect me to catch her. Where are you at with God? Is your concern keeping you from following through for what God is calling you to do? Do you remember the challenge that Jesus gave to Peter?

Matthew 14:28–33 ESV

28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

We gauge our ablilty to do what God is calling us to do based on what we can see. The challenge is that we are called to follow through based on things we cannot see. God calls us and expects us to walk. When God tells us to do something He does not care if we think it is possible. God does not really even want us to think about that. What do you think was going through Peters mind? Had Peter thought for a second about what he was being told to do he would have immediatley stopped. All Peter needed to understand was that he was not a boat or a duck. Peter if he were thinking from a human perspective would have known that he would sink. But Peter thought through the lens of God being God and all things being possible. If you comtine to do only the things that God calls you to that you believe are possible you will never make it to the championship. God wants you to live as a champion as a victor, as someone who overcomes becasue of what He does through you. We must live in the championship moments.

The Championship

1 Kings 17:13–16 ESV

13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

This woman had to think like a champion. Like someone who was already provided for. She had the opportunity to tell Elijah to move on that she could not help and she would have missed out on the amazing provision that God would provide her. God was going to provide for her through the tough times that were coming to the land and it was based on her faith to believe that He could do the impossible. Do you really believe God can do the impossible? Do you live as though you serve the God who created everything and that as His child there is nothing He would withhold from you? God is calling us to be real people of faith. We must get beyond the American dream and live the Heavenly dream. We must live as people with no fear of a recession and no fear of failure. We must give like we are given to. Have you ever watched how the children of millionaires live? They live with no worries because they know no matter what their parents have their back. If they can live like they do and be taken care of then why cant we live the same way knowing that God has our back? The difference in them and us though is that we should live for the things that God wants and we should trust that he has the ability to write the check to cover it. Are you willing to live as a champion? As one who can never fail? The Christian life is meant to be a fearless life with no worries.

Years ago new engineers in the Lamp Division of General Electric were assigned, as a joke, the impossible task of frosting bulbs on the inside. Eventually, however, an undaunted newcomer named Marvin Pipkin not only found a way to frost bulbs on the inside but developed an etching acid that gave minutely rounded pits instead of sharp depressions. This materially strengthened each bulb. Fortunately, no one had told him it couldn't be done, so he did it.

It is amazing what can be done when you dont know that it is impossible.

Mark 10:13–16 ESV

13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

Jesus told them this because children rarely have the idea that anything is impossible. Children dream of the success. Children often times have not tasted failure enough to be fearful of it. Unless we begin to live in faith with our Father as children who trust Him completely we will miss the fulfillment He has for us. Lets pray.