Word for the Day October
25
By:
Evang. Cascille Hammack
"Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the
land for three and a half years." James 5:17
Elijah was a prophet in the northern kingdom during the reigns of Ahab and his son Ahaziah. His
name Elijah meaning, "The Lord is my God," represents his immovable conviction. During his life,
Israel was involved in Baal worship. His mission was to show Israel their apostasy and call them back to loyalty to the Lord
(1 Kings 18:21, 36,37). He sought to reestablish God's covenant with His people. He is an example of faith, courage
and unwavering loyalty to God in the face of opposition and persecution.
In 1 Kings 17:1, Elijah said, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve,
there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word." God spoke this Word of judgement against
disobedient Israel and withheld rain for 3 1/2 years. Baal worshippers believed Baal controlled rain and was responsible
for their crops. In the midst of delivering this message and carrying out God's reformation, God sustained Elijah.
As Elijah had borne God's burden, the Lord bore his. When we obey the Lord and carry out His will, He takes care of us.
My four year old son told me several months ago as we were driving down the street, "If you do God's business, Mommy,
He will do yours." Psalm 68:19 promises, "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens."
In the midst of facing
stubborn and rebellious Israel and giving them God's Word, Elijah took no thought of his own needs but waited for the Lord's
direction for His provision. First, God sent him to a brook and commanded ravens to feed him. Morning and evening
the ravens brought him meat. Then God directed him to go to a pagan territory inhabited by Baal worshippers and there
God provided for him through a poor widow (1 Kings 17:9). God sent Elijah to the widow to strengthen her faith and give
her material blessings when she felt all was lost. (verse 12). When he asked for a piece of bread, she said, "I
don't have any bread, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take
home a make a meal for myself and my son- that we may eat it and die." (1 Kings 17:12) Elijah let her know
by obeying God she would be blessed. If she had leaned on her own understanding and disobeyed God, she
and her son would have died. Not only did she receive the material provision but great strength spiritually by obeying
God and witnessing His mighty hand. With the little she had, Elijah instructed her to first make a small cake
for him, then something for herself and her son. He gave her the Word from God, "The jar of flour will not be used
up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain." (1 Kings 17:14) Because of her obedience
to follow the Lord's instructions, she was blessed. She had faith. This test of her faith was preliminary as her
big test was right around the corner. The Word says some time later, her son became ill and died. Elijah prayed and
her son was raised to life. (verse 23). This is the first account in the Bible of anyone being raised to life from death.
As Hebrews 11:27 speaks of Moses' faith, "By faith he left
Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw Him who was invisible."
We must trust God. As the widow woman obeyed the Word of the Lord and received her blessing, so we must obey God, especially
when what we see in the natural seems impossible. God requires that "We live by
faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7). Hebrews 10:38,39 declares, " “But my righteous one will live
by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink back and
are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved." Elijah believed God because he could see in the spirit
what was not yet manifested in the natural. He was not moved by circumstances because he knew what was manifested in
the spiritual realm was coming in the natural. He knew God is faithful. We must have this same unwavering
faith. God's promises will be manifested.