5: Strategic Cheriths

If God is for us, who can be against us?

ROMANS 8:31

OVER THE PAST DECADES I have intently watched many people experience change and transition. Some brought it on themselves while others seemed to wake up one morning in the middle of it.

The same has been true for my wife, Denise, and me. One day we are leading a national ministry, the next we are unemployed. These times of transition can be difficult.

At a retreat, Denise was introduced to the concept of a Strategic Cherith.[1] She came home and shared it with me. A light bulb went on and we began to see God’s perspective on change and transition. I wrote a short book on the subject and have spoken numerous times on this theme. I define a Strategic Cherith as a time when we suddenly feel sidelined; it could be caused by job loss, burnout, illness, or bereavement. I feel we are in a Strategic Cherith as I write this devotional because we are in quarantine due to the coronavirus. We feel isolated and cut off.

The word Cherith comes from 1 Kings 17. It’s related to the Hebrew verb charath, meaning “to cut” or “to separate.” In 1 Kings 17, we find the nation of Israel in chaos. It has divided into two kingdoms, Judah and Israel. Ahab becomes the king of Israel, and in 1 Kings 16:33, we read that he did more to anger God than any of the kings before him.

God sends Elijah to voice His displeasure. In 1 Kings 17:1, Elijah delivers God’s message to Ahab. Two verses later, Elijah is suddenly pulled out of the action and sent to a brook called Cherith.

What happened? One moment Elijah is doing what God wants him to do. He is fully engaged, his priorities are right, he is obedient, he is living on the edge. In other words, Elijah is fulfilling what he believes God has called him to do. The next moment, he is sidelined somewhere east of the Jordan River in the middle of nowhere.

Does this sound familiar? It certainly does to me. It may not be a ministry that is being laid aside. It could be a business, your family, health, or something else.

Are you in a Strategic Cherith? Then take encouragement, friend, for God has not left you. In fact, the opposite is true.

Strategic Cheriths are God’s provision for us. Strategic Cheriths:

Strategic Cheriths are an example of how God works for our good rather than working against us. We must change our perspective, though, and see things not as they appear but through God’s eyes. Author F. B. Meyer writes, “Every saintly soul that would wield great power with men must win it in some hidden Cherith.”[2]

Questions

  1. What do you believe Elijah felt when he was directed to the brook Cherith?
  2. How has God used times of Strategic Cherith in your life? What did you learn from these times of transition?
  3. Why do you believe God either allows or directs us into Strategic Cheriths?