FAITH CAPSULE: In God’s direction, there is provision for preservation.

1 Kings 17:1-6, 19:1-9

Trusting to wait on God has to be consistent. In the face of impending danger, it can be painful to wait on God. The word of God encourages, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31) In this blessing of waiting, it is clear that a wingless man that trust God enough to wait on God will mount up with wings to fly even when the ground does not permit running or walking. When Elijah ignited trouble in the land by calling for rain to cease, God gave Elijah direction, ““Get away from here and turn eastward and hide by the brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” (1 Kings 17:3-4) In God’s direction, there was provision for preservation and Elijah could not suffer from the lack of rain. The same Elijah that was told by God to hide when there was a need for him to hide ran when fear located him. Elijah ran when God did not ask him to run. After the manifestation of God’s power through him on Mount Carmel, he executed the prophets of Baal. The execution of the prophets does not settle well with Jezebel the wife of King Ahab. Jezebel vowed to kill Elijah. The Bible recoded, ““And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, ‘It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!’” (1 Kings 19:3-4) Can you imagine such a mighty man of God running without God? The first time that he needed to move God gave him direction. When there was more need for him to wait and get direction he did not wait. Not waiting on God will cause any servant of God to run where the journey only calls for walking. Elijah was running under the direction of fear. To be moved by fear and not by faith will cause one to be exhausted; frustrated and lack. Remember what the Lord has done for you in the past. God has brought you this far and He will not forsake you. 1 Kings 19:9, “And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” 

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace of waiting on Him consistently and not selectively.