Fear Not - Provision
Scripture Reading - 1 Kings 17:12-15 KJV
(12) And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. (13) And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. (14) For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. (15) And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
Greetings fellow believer in the Awesome Name of Jesus may God’s Grace smile upon you this day while he fills you with all Peace. At this time we will continue in our “Fear Not” series. In a previous lesson we highlighted the fact that worry comes from fear. If we can remove the fear from the situation, event, circumstance, sickness, government, person, etc. . . we will also remove the worry associated with that fear. Thank God through Jesus Christ we can remove the fear. According 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love but perfect (mature, sincere, pure, untainted) love casts out fear. In another previous lesson we mentioned that we don’t need to fear protection primarily for two reasons: one God is always with us and two The Lord’s ministering spirits known as angels are encamped round about us continuously. The key is knowing divine help is always available and acknowledging God in all our ways so He can direct our paths.-Refer to Proverbs 3:6 It is also stated in 1 John 4:4, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” In today’s lesson we will discuss not fearing inadequate provision in the sense of not having enough food and/or drink. Yes, even though most of the people in the world don’t worry about running out of food it is a common concern for the many poor people that are in the earth. Yes, some of our very own neighbors that live around us can be in lack and never mention it to you because they are embarrassed to bring up the subject. This is one of those topics where you need to be led of the Spirit of God because the need is real and the people are real so it takes both watching and prayer. We watch man to monitor how they are doing and we pray to God to know if there is anything we should do for them to help both spiritually and practically. In the reference verses we see an encounter between a widow woman and Elijah, the prophet. Of course the widow woman represents the believer, her son represents her household and Elijah represents the man of God for the people who trust in God. Notice first that as we mentioned earlier Elijah was led to the woman’s house because there was a lot of widows in land at that same time but Elijah only went to this one (Refer to Luke 4:25-26). This reminds us that we need to be led in this because many hands are out looking for donations and many of those who want your money have no heart for God or people. The widow woman starts her conversion with Elijah speaking in the Name of the Lord which confirmed in Elijah that he was at the right house at the right time. She mention that they (her and her household-her son specifically) were down to the last bit of meal and oil. This phrase comes to mind, “God might not show up early but He Is never too late. Praise The Lord He Is always on time. Amen!” We read that the widow woman was preparing for death due to lack of food and drink. The meal represents food while the oil represents drink. Even though she didn’t know what her future looked like she did yield to fear of the future because her natural circumstances showed a lack of her provision. This daily image of lack weighing on her heart continuously gave place to the enemy to torment her mind by constantly whispering the statement, “Your going to die.” This as we see in the following verses was a lie. Elijah recognizing her fear immediately said to her “Fear Not”. The man of God immediately spoke against fear and replaced it with a word of provision. Did Elijah proclaim provision for the rest of her life? No!, but he did proclaim enough provision to get her (and her house) through (past, beyond) this famine which was caused by a drought. Sometimes things come against us that are beyond our own doings (out of our control) as is the case of a drought over the land. Please see that if she could speak the same words Elijah did and believe it in her heart she could get the results that Elijah got. For God is no respecter of persons but He Is a respecter of faith when He hears it or sees it. Another good observation is that the miracle started immediately she didn’t have to wait two or three days for the Word of God to work. No, faith friend, God’s Word runs very swiftly and He Is always ready at all times to bless you as much as He can. He (The Lord) is limited by our own confession(s) of doubts and fears coupled with what we have available in our house. First, she didn’t say that they would have continuous meal and oil so without Elijah’s rescue (God’s Divine Intervention) the provision would have stopped, not because it was God’s Will but rather she would have whatever she said. Another limiting factor was only having meal and oil in the house. The reason we mention it as limiting is because if that is her seed sown you can only have a harvest on the exact seeds you sow. We (ihlcc) are certain if she would have had steak in her house God could have multiplied the steak to last throughout the drought. Remember Jesus multiplied both fishes and bread when ministering to people in Mark 6:34-43 because that is what they had in their possession. The thing that saved her (and her household) was that she did do according to the saying of the man of God once revealed to her which basically means she was doer of the word of God not just a hearer of the word of God. Yes, faith friend, that is how you are going to receive your blessing of provision too. Just take God at His Word by believing and speaking He (The Lord Jesus) is your protection and provision because doing that will strengthen you spiritually, mentally and physically. Practice the Word of God while speaking it daily. Our Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus Christ are your personal provision because all that call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus shall be saved which includes being provided for. Amen!