September 16, 2002

LifeWay Family Bible Series for Sept. 29

God promises to provide, but not to pamper
___ 1 Kings 17:1­4; 19:9­18
___By Rick Willis
___First Baptist Church, Roscoe
___The words "provide," "provision" and "providence" come from Latin roots meaning to "see ahead." The same idea shows up in the expressions "look after" or "see about."
___We see an empty refrigerator and know company is coming, so we go to the store for provisions. We foresee needs and take steps now to be ready.
___Applied to God, providence means God sees our needs and weighs them against his plans. Then God "causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them" (Romans 8:28).
___The Bible offers many pictures of how God provides. One occurs in the Old Testament account of Elijah.
______God sees your physical needs
___"You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there" (1 Kings 17:4). With these words, God assured the prophet Elijah he would provide what Elijah needed to live. The verse indicates two kinds of provision.
___God provides for all creatures in ordinary, "general" ways like the brook. The Psalms tell often and beautifully of God's catering to all the animals and humans: "The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing" (Psalm 145:15­16).
___In rare instances, God supplies the needs of his people through miraculous means. Though others must have drunk from the same brook as Elijah, surely the ravens brought meat and bread only to the prophet. In the Exodus, God's people were given manna to eat in the desert. Elijah and the widow of Zarephath with her son got a miraculous supply of oil and flour from containers that had been nearly empty (1 Kings 17:14-16).
___God has ordered creation so that men and women may work, cultivate, manage and share resources sufficient for life. The Bible never invites us to approach God presumptuously, expecting him to meet our physical needs so we can be lazy. But all who live obediently before the Lord sometimes glimpse a miracle of God's sustaining and fatherly love.
___The Bible spotlights God, not physical needs. While we are prone to see our needs as hugely important, in comparison, God's wisdom and watchcare dwarf many of our "emergencies."
___Picture a set of scales. If you could place your needs on one side of the scales and God on the other side, isn't it obvious which way the scales would tip?
___That's why Christ urges us, "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33). The key to God's special provision is to abandon my agenda for God's.
___God sees your deepest needs
___Jesus taught that "life is more than food" (Luke 12:23). His truth is evident in Elijah's attitude on the mountain of the Lord.
___Even after God gave Elijah food from the ravens and the angels, a hunger and dissatisfaction kept rolling inside him. He fasted 40 days and made his way to a cave on Mount Horeb, maybe the same cave where Moses had seen God's presence (Exodus 33:22; the Hebrew text of 1 Kings 19:9 literally says "the" cave).
___Alone on Mount Horeb, Elijah met the Lord and complained that in spite of his zeal he feared he would be killed. He feared that with his own death the worship of God would be stamped out of Israel (1 Kings 19:10). Elijah's lament, repeated perhaps for emphasis (19:14), amounted to a question of why the sovereign God would allow the people's desertion.
___Elijah did not receive a direct explanation from God. Instead, the Lord furnished the prophet with a profound experience of his holy presence. Like Job and many believers who have asked for explanations, Elijah found in God's clear presence all the courage he needed.
___With the consistency of a clock chime, the Bible shows that the depths of suffering and despair can lead to a closer embrace from God than any other experience.
___God sees the big picture
___Once Elijah was both challenged and reassured by God's presence, God gave him an assignment. The commission to Elijah symbolized the political and religious means that would bring judgment on Israel and preserve a remnant through whom God's promises in history were to be fulfilled.
___When the Bible describes a special act of God's provision for an individual, it always serves a purpose bigger than the individual's needs. In 1 Kings 17­19, Elijah is sustained by God through supernatural means for the sake of a mission. God did not pamper Elijah. God preserved his servant.
___Whether we experience riches or poverty, sickness or health, our security comes from belonging to the Father and making him the main character in the story of our lives.
___Questions for discussion
___ Did Jesus demonstrate that God provides for our physical needs? How many examples can you think of?
___ If a person suffers poverty and hunger, does that mean he or she is rejected by God?

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