Guigoz #10
C: Mike, let’s go back and talk a little about the situation with my older sister. I have understood that God makes all good things happen in His perfect timing, but if He can bless me in America surely He can give me the same blessings in Europe or in Burundi since the world belongs to him and I certainly don’t see why we should limit Him to a specific place.
M: Just as you have learned that He makes all good things happen in His perfect timing, you need to also understand that He acts in the same way in His place. We need to seek to be where God wants us to be in order to accomplish the works that He has already finished since the creation of the world Heb 4:3.
C: Try to show me this biblically since it’s very important for me.
M: Of course, open your bible to 1 Kings 17: 1-16. First of all, we see that the Lord commanded Elijah to leave the place where he was and to head east towards the brook Kerith east of the Jordan. In that period of time there was a drought in the land, but the Lord reassured Elijah that he would drink from the brook and that he had commanded the ravens to feed him THERE. Are you with me so far?
C: Yes, I see clearly that God was very precise concerning the place but I don’t understand what the crows represent
M: The crows represent the angels God has commanded to bring us blessings
C: Why do you keep emphasizing the verb command?
M: Because I want you to understand that the angels don’t come your way because they choose you but because simply because they have been commanded to do so. When I speak of angels, I mean everything that God can use to bless you- that can be spiritual angels as well as human beings such as a friend, member of your family, or even someone that you have never met before
C: It’s impressive to see how the crows delivered bread and meat to Elijah both morning and evening while he was able to drink from the brook, but why in verse 7 does it say some time later the brook dried up? It’s like God stopped the flow of His blessings even though Elijah was still in the place where God wanted him to be?
M: The brook dried up because the time frame for being in Kerith had reached it’s fullness and God wanted him to change locations
C: So the place of God is connected to the timing of God
M: Exactly and you must be where God wants you to be in His timing. If Elijah hadn’t obeyed the Word of the Lord by seeking to stay in Kerith not only would he not have had any water because the brook dried up but he would have died of hunger because there weren’t any more crows brining him food to eat. That’s what happens to us often
C: So in order to survive, Elijah had to move himself away from Kerith?
M: No, the solution wasn’t found in leaving Kerith but in going where God wanted him to be!
C: Zarephath?
M: Exactly and read in verse 9 where the Lord tells him that he has commanded a certain widow in that place to supply him with food. In verse 10 you will see that the widow woman didn’t know Elijah, but God had already commanded it. Are you understanding what I’m telling you?
C: Not really.
M: I’m trying to get you to understand that the woman who fed Elijah didn’t know him personally and yet she had been commanded by the Lord to feed His servant. By commanding her, God had placed in her heart the command to feed His servant even if she didn’t understand that she was under the command of the Lord. She thought she was helping Elijah as certain people in your life may think they are helping you out of their own volition when in reality they are commanded by the Lord. You need to understand that if someone is commanded by the Lord to do something for you, that person must do it whether they want to or not, whether they know it or not, and God may have to bless them so that they can accomplish His command.
In verse 12 the woman told Elijah that all she had remaining was a handful of flour and a little oil in a jug for her and her son and afterwards they were going to die, but despite this situation she was unable to turn Elijah away simply because she had been commanded by the Lord and that had to happen in a Zarephath and not anywhere else.. It’s up to you then to pray and find out where your Zarephath is located- I mean we need to know where God wants you to be in His timing.
C: Oh my! That’s really impressive. I have another question about the faith and works
M: Come back for Guigoz 11
