O NE DAY I finally admitted that I had lost the conscious presence of God.
In spite of all the wonderful things I had been learning and the remarkable success of Davenport, the last few months had been deeply disturbing. There was a dryness in my relationship with God, and I couldn’t figure out why. There was no great sin in my life or tension in the family or church. Things were going very well, and everyone around me was excited. My needs were all being
met, and the church was easy to pastor. I had grown to love these people dearly. But I felt my preaching was mechanical and the spark gone.
I had lost the sense of God’s presence. Oh, He was there, but it seemed as if I was just tuned out. I prayed, fasted and stayed up all night seeking God, but nothing changed.
There I was again, down and out in Davenport.
It was not because of failure but, ironically, because of success. And I did not know what to do to dig out.
I was in this dark mood when the letter came.
The letter was an invitation to be interviewed by the board of First Assembly of God in Phoenix, Arizona. At that point in my life I felt the last thing I needed was another church and another challenge. So I threw the letter in the wastebasket.
Again I was wrong.
Not only did Phoenix need me, but I needed them!
After several torturous days, I returned to the wastebasket. Fortunately, the janitor had not emptied my trash. I dug deep into the office garbage to retrieve the wadded-up paper. Ironing the crumpled letter out on my desk, I leaned over and prayed desperately with my head buried in my hands. Maybe, just maybe, God was speaking to me through my restlessness, and I was not listening.
Could it be that I would sense the nearness of God’s presence again only if I followed whatever little lead there seemed to be? Somewhere I had read that while a flashlight shines only a short distance in front, the light extends further as you continue to walk. Maybe this would happen to me if I followed the little light I saw. That little light seemed to be this letter.
NOW Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the
God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
2 And the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
3 “Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.
4 “And it shall be that you shall drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.”
5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.
6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.
7 And it happened after a while, that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
9 “Arise, go to Zarephath....”
1 Kings 17:1-9
I DIALED THE CHURCH board and made arrangements to fly to Phoenix for the meeting.
When I met with the Phoenix board I immediately knew the reason for my restlessness. Here was where God wanted me, and if I had not experienced such inner agitation I would not have even considered the move. I had everything I wanted in Davenport, and I loved the people dearly. When other churches called asking me to consider their pulpits, I turned them down without even giving them a second thought. God knew that I was a lot like Elijah. I would not listen to His leading unless my river dried up, forcing me to seek hard for His face and will.
The story of Elijah at the brook Cherith is full of sur
prises. I have come to understand that God’s process of miracle making is accompanied by a never-ending series of unusual and unexpected things. Elijah is a good example of how God leads us into the making of a miracle.
Elijah delivered devastating news — that the nation of Israel would be crippled by a drought and famine. God knew that wicked King Ahab would be more inclined to kill the messenger than heed the message. The Bible reports,
AND the word of the Lord came to him [Elijahl, saying,
3 “Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.”
1 Kings 17:2-3
This was a surprising place since Elijah had just announced a famine. In a famine a brook dries up first, and yet it was there God sent Elijah, rather than to a full river where he could survive safely in drought.
In my own life I have always been surprised at where God sends me. I was reluctant when I went to Davenport, and although Phoenix was God’s choice for my life, it would not have been my first choice. Even in my daily appointments I discover God often diverts me to surprising places in surprising ways where great things are done for Him.
A casual conversation or a “coincidental” meeting can be life changing. It is exciting and challenging to see what surprising places God will send me in the days ahead. I am learning to follow the Good Shepherd rather than take the lead. I only wish I were a better learner.
After spending a few years in Phoenix I found myself being diverted to another surprising place. I found myself
at city hall. It seems the whole town had gathered together at city hall — local television news media, reporters, the city council, representatives from several commissions, the mayor and hundreds of others assembled. What most of them wanted was to tar and feather Tommy Barnett and run him out of town on a rail. I’ll tell you more about that in a later chapter. But what seemed to be a place and a situation I would have avoided at all cost, turned into a surprising miracle.
The second surprise in this story is whom, or what, God told to cater the prophet’s food.
You shall drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.
1 Kings 17:4
If we are going to receive “heavenly” food, surely we would expect an angelic catering service. Yet God told Elijah he would be fed by dirty birds.
Eight or more species of ravens are found in Israel. All are considered unclean by Hebrew law and feed on carcasses. Noah used a raven as the first bird to send out after the flood (Gen. 8:7). It did not return, perhaps finding floating carcasses on which to light and feed. The raven and the vulture are grouped in the same disgusting class in Proverbs (Prov. 30:17, NIV). It was probably a shock to Elijah to learn his “angel’s food” would be delivered in such suspicious fashion. In fact, it took real faith to eat whatever was brought to him, and only a real saint could see ravens’ food as provision from God.
The symbolism in this story is striking. It simply shows how God can and will provide from unusual sources by surprising means. The kingdoms of this world can and will become the kingdoms of our God. Therefore, I fully
expect many of the provisions for the church and God’s people in these days to come from the world.
One year as we were preparing for our Feed-the-Multitude Thanksgiving celebration, the regional manager of a national fast-food, fried chicken company was touched by what we were doing. He then provided three thousand drumsticks for the meals for our bus children that day, and has done so every year since. Incidentally, as he provided, the Lord provided for him, and he married a woman in our church less than a year later.
When the Israelites lived in the land of Canaan, they were threatened constantly. Sometimes the situation looked hopeless. Finally, they turned to God for help. Revival came to Judah after Jehoshaphat turned the nation to God’s Word. The writer of Chronicles notes how it affected the surrounding nations.
NOW the dread of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of the lands which were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.
n And some of the Philistines brought gifts and silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat; the Arabians also brought him flocks, 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats.
2 Chronicles 17:10-11 A Surprising Problem
Elijah experienced success and rest at the little brook. His needs were met, and things were going very well. The great prophet was safe and secure by the brook just as I was in Davenport. He probably had adjusted to his unusual servers and may have even developed a friendly relationship with the accommodating birds. Elijah had no move on his agenda. Then a surprising problem arose — the brook dried up! My brook in Davenport dried up too.
It was not some mid-life crisis but simply God nudging me to move on.
One of the hardest lessons in life is to learn that God calls us to a place for a reason and for a season. We want to settle at some comfortable place forever because it is “safe.” But life is like a twisting river. Sometimes we stop on a beautiful bank and loll there for some time. But if we do not get back in the stream, we miss the exciting things around the next bend.
If Elijah’s supply had not dried up, he might have missed the mighty miracles that lay ahead. He would not have had the dramatic encounter on Mount Carmel in which the fire of God descended (1 Kin. 18:38). He would have missed the supernatural end of the famine, the angel’s touch, and his final fantastic ride to heaven in the whirlwind (1 Kin. 18:45, 19:5; 2 Kin. 2:11).
Most of all, he would have missed his role in God’s plan to save a precious widow and her son from starvation. Elijah’s surprising problem was only a prod to move him on to another area of ministry.
We live in a transient society, largely as a result of the job market. Often when Christians go into a new job, a door has opened miraculously. And when they leave a job, it is almost always because of an accumulation of problems. Going in is filled with excitement and new possibilities. Going out is usually accompanied with stress and tension, that is, until the next door opens.
That’s how it is in life and in business. That’s also how it was with Elijah. If it hadn’t been for the accumulation of things leading up to his departure, he may have missed God’s leading to his next miracle.
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a
widow there to provide for 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, “Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink.”
n And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.”
12 But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.”
1 Kings 17:8-12
AGAIN, THE INSTRUCTIONS OF God are surprising from a human standpoint. Why did He call on a widow to feed Elijah? Widows had no means of support, especially this widow.
The story of Elijah and the Sidonian widow of Zarephath is similar to the encounter that Elijah’s successor, Elisha, had with a widow. Both widows were despairing for their lives and the lives of their children. They both also found out that the miracle they needed was already in the house. They only had to recognize it and activate it.
At the beginning of His public ministry in Galilee, Jesus highlighted how improbable it was for God to send Elijah to this widow. After having read from the scroll on the Sabbath, Jesus was teaching those who had come that day to the synagogue. Luke’s Gospel says that they were all speaking well of Him and wondering at His gracious words — that is, until He mentioned Elijah and the widow of Zarephath.
And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his home town.
25 “But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;
26 “and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.”
Luke 4:24-26
How did those in the synagogue react to this? Luke goes on to say that they were all filled with rage when they heard these words and immediately tried to kill Jesus by casting Him off a cliff!
Being sent to the widow of Zarephath was more than an unconventional surprise. It was unthinkable.
GrOD’S PLAN FOR ELIJAH was a surprise not only because the Sidonians were considered pagans and idol worshippers. Why would a man of Elijah’s stature and anointing have to be supplied by one in such need herself? God asked the prophet to go to a place of want and put a heavier burden on that household. It just didn’t make sense.
Whatever you need, give that away to someone else. Every Sunday I stand at the front door to shake hands and hug everybody who will let me.
One person said to me, “Pastor Barnett, you sure are a loving person.”
“No,” I replied, “it’s just that I need to be loved so much myself. So I’m just giving away what I need!” The opportunity to give turned out to be a blessing for the widow. It was also the beginning of her miracle.
God had already told the widow that the man of God was coming, and she would be the supply for his need (1 Kin. 17:9). By acting in accordance with God’s surprise directive, she reaped what she sowed many times over.
Then Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first, and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son.
14 ”For thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth.’ ”
1 Kings 17:13-14
The PROPHET MADE A startling request. One might expect sympathy from this man of God, but all the woman received was what seemed to be a selfish demand: “Use your last oil and flour to feed me first.”
What do you suppose went through the widow’s mind? Maybe she thought sarcastically, Great, give the preacher our last meal — then we can eat.
Maybe she said to herself, Well, we’re going to die anyway. What difference is one last meal? We might as well give it to the prophet and see what happens.
There’s no way of knowing what the widow was thinking. We do know that the Scriptures say that God had commanded her to provide for the prophet. What she had was a command from God and a promise from the prophet.
As the old hymn says, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way....” 1
So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days.
16 The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did
the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.
1 Kings 17:15-16
The answer to a desperate need came from a “miracle in the house.” Miracles are not magic — but multiplication. Obedience to His Word and faith in His promise put what we have into the Lord’s hands so it can be multiplied. Then the miracle occurs. Just as a farmer must not eat the seed, so we must sow the seed and look for Him to multiply it.
Bringing what we have to the Lord to use and multiply is as true for us today as it was for the two widows. This is a law of the kingdom. Jesus said:
Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.
Luke 6:38
What do we give? That which we have. Where do we find it? Somewhere in our house.
FOUR