40 Days of Lint, Day Five: When the Brook Dries Up

Have you ever felt like God’s favorite child? Others around you experience broken hearts, financial difficulties, health problems, trials of faith, and job loss. Yet, you seem to be doing great. Maybe you wonder why everything’s going so well; even feel guilty about your comfort in the midst of other’s pain. Perhaps you assume God is blessing you for your faithfulness to Him. Then suddenly, the brook dries up and you move into a season of famine and questioning. That’s what happened to Elijah.

“The word of the LORD came to Elijah: ‘Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.’
"So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
"Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him: ‘Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.’ So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, ‘Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?’
"She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah” (1 Kings 17:2-9, 15-16).

It would have been easy for God to keep sending raven care packages to Elijah. He could have kept the stream flowing, even though there was drought everywhere else. But if He had done that, both Elijah and the widow would have missed out on God’s better plan. By sending him to the widow, God revealed himself as the one true God to a hopeless and dying woman. He also provided a dear and lifelong friend for Elijah. None of that would have happened if he had stayed by the brook.

 For the last two years, Kelly and I have enjoyed wonderful blessings and peace by God’s brook, but now we’re experiencing a time of drought like never before. Our tendency is to ask, “What have we done wrong? Don’t you love us anymore?” But I cling to the knowledge that God sees what we cannot see from our perspective. He knows our need for growth and whose lives we need to touch.

 If your brook has dried up and you’re mourning the easy life you once enjoyed, God may be changing your situation for reasons you haven’t yet realized. Maybe there’s someone out there dying of starvation that needs to hear about God. Sharing Him in your own time of need is a miracle that can’t be done by the brook. Or, perhaps you need more than just physical comfort right now; it could be that God knows you need someone besides ravens to talk to - a friend beyond the brook. Whatever His reasons, let us trust our kind and loving Father to bring about His perfect good in all situations.

Lint Removed: Comfort
Cleaning Process: Sharing With Others