Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "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."  I Kings 17:1 

 

I.  Reasons for droughts:

 

• Disobedience

 ⁵ This is what the LORD says:
       "Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
       who depends on flesh for his strength
       and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

 ⁶ He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
       he will not see prosperity when it comes.
       He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
       in a salt land where no one lives.  Jeremiah 17:5-6

 

• Testing

 ⁷ "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
       whose confidence is in him.

 ⁸ He will be like a tree planted by the water
       that sends out its roots by the stream.
       It does not fear when heat comes;
       its leaves are always green.
       It has no worries in a year of drought
       and never fails to bear fruit."   Jeremiah 17:7-8

 

² Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: ³"Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. ⁴ You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there."  I Kings 17:2-4 

 

II.  In difficult times, the “word of the Lord” comes to those who . . . 

 

• Praise and thank Him.  Psalm 103:1-6  

 

• Claim God’s promises. v. 4 

 

• Seek wise counsel.

Without guidance, people fall, but with many counselors there is deliverance.  Proverbs 11:14  (HCSB) 

 

 

III.   Following God’s direction leads to God’s provision.

 

 ⁵ So he did what the LORD had told him. . . .  I Kings 17:5-6 

 

 ⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  ⁶ Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.  Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)