WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.320 Amen. 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:02.640 You can be seated in the presence of the Lord. 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:03.520 Amen. 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:07.360 So today we're going to talk Bible. 00:00:07.839 --> 00:00:09.279 We're going to talk Bible. 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:14.000 So I want to share with you a piece of history that is in the love letter. 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:15.679 What's the love letter, y'all? 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:16.879 The Bible. 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:20.160 It is a love letter that our Father has left behind for us. 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:23.760 And I want to talk about a piece of history that is in there. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:26.879 And so today is going to be a little bit different. 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:35.600 Because, fun fact that back in the day when people would go to the temple, they would praise and they would worship, yes. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:40.799 But one of the key things that they would do is that they would listen to the word of God. 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:41.600 Amen. 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:51.280 And even when Jesus walked on the earth and he went to the temple, they sat and listened to him and he would pull up the scroll and he would sit there and just read. 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:55.280 And so today you're going to hear me read the word of God. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:55.840 Amen. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:01.439 It's going to be just a little bit different, but this is just the way God has placed it in my heart. 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:08.560 So if you don't, you're not used to reading your word, you might be bored. 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:12.000 But if you're used to reading your word, you're going to get fed today. 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:12.879 Amen. 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:17.519 And so, like I said, even Jesus read a portion of Isaiah. 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:18.400 Y'all remember that? 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:19.519 Y'all remember that? 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:28.400 And he he was he was bringing it to remind the people that that what what that was that that had been written was here today. 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:32.959 And so we know that everything that was written was written for a reason and a purpose. 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:35.040 Could you imagine all the events that happened back in the day? 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:36.079 Think about your daily life. 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:37.599 Every single thing that happens to you. 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:42.000 And somebody's writing a book about you, they can't possibly put everything in there. 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:46.239 But for whatever reason, these stories and this in history made it to the Bible. 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:51.599 And these are the stories that God wanted for us to go back and look at and say, look at what I did. 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:53.439 If I did it, then I can do it now. 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:54.239 Amen. 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:59.200 And so today I want to embrace this type of format. 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:07.760 And I want to talk about a story, uh, or I'm I'm not gonna call it a story because a story most times are just fairy tales, but this is not a fairy tale. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:11.680 This is a piece of history of a man that actually existed and walked the grounds, right? 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:21.919 And it was a time where the people of God had forgotten about how who God was, they had rejected him completely, they had forgotten him from generation after generation. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:24.719 They'd have forgotten of who God was. 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:35.280 And this man in this time, because he was one of the only, one of the few who still believed in God, who still worshiped God, felt like he was alone. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:39.759 How many times are we the only ones in our own circle that worship God? 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:41.599 And we feel alone. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:46.240 If I had seven hands, I would I would lift them up right now. 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:49.199 Because so many times I feel alone in this walk. 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:51.599 And we're gonna talk about this man today. 00:02:52.240 --> 00:03:03.520 However, this man chose to listen to God, and this man chose that regardless of the path he had to take, whether he was alone or not, he was gonna walk that path because he trusted God. 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:06.479 And the man that I'm referring to is Elijah. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:13.680 So I want you to bring up your fancy uh Bibles, your scroll Bibles. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:15.759 I love my scroll Bible. 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:28.400 Or if you got a paperback, flip through the pages, and I want you to go with me to 1 Kings 17, and we're gonna read a lot in Kings. 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:30.560 We're gonna sit here for a little while. 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:34.479 Alright, so I'm gonna give you a minute to look for your word. 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:43.919 When you have it, say amen. 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:53.520 So I'm gonna talk about the word and then I'm gonna pause in between of what God has been giving me through this word. 00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:57.680 So it says, 1 Kings 17. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:05.759 Now Elijah, the Tishbite from Tishbe in Galilee, Gal Gilead, Gilead, Gilead. 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:09.680 Let's think, let's go with Gilead, said to Ahab, pause. 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:10.879 Who was Ahab? 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:12.879 Ahab was a king. 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:16.480 He was a really, really, really evil king. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:18.639 We'll get back to Ahab in a minute. 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:31.839 He says, 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. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:33.680 Okay? 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:35.439 I'm gonna read that one more time. 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:40.879 As the Lord, so he's saying, I'm speaking on behalf of the Lord, the God of Israel. 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:44.160 He knew that this people in Israel did not believe in God. 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:47.120 But God, they were already God's chosen people. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:54.959 You are already God's chosen people, whether you want to believe it or not, whether you're over here fancying something else, you're still the people of God. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:55.519 Amen. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:59.839 And so he refers to them as who they are, the people of God. 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:05.040 He says, As the Lord the God of Israel lives, whom I serve. 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:08.560 So he's telling them that's the God, that that's who I'm repping right now. 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:16.240 There will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years, except at my word. 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:18.639 So what is he saying here? 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:23.040 Elijah was telling the people that there was about to be a drought. 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:26.720 Could you imagine that you have this evil king? 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:28.319 I told you who Abraham was. 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:34.480 He was an evil king, and God chooses you to tell the king that there's about to be a drought. 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:37.040 And it's not gonna rain until I say so. 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:39.279 Right? 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:41.279 That's exactly what's going on. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:43.680 It says, no rain, not even dew. 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:44.800 That means not even. 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:46.879 Do you know what dew is? 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:54.639 That's the film on top of the leaves early in the morning, those little sprinkles of water, nothing. 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:57.519 Like there would be nothingness, family. 00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:01.600 Not even a tiny bit of water would come down on the earth. 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:04.399 And so this was a big deal for these people. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:04.800 Why? 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:08.079 Because the drought meant that there would be a famine. 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:11.519 So they could have taken it like your God just cursed us. 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:14.639 You just told us we're about to die, right? 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:22.560 So you can imagine that Elijah was not the best kid in the black around those times, right? 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:23.920 Like nobody liked them. 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:24.639 Right? 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:31.839 That meant that the lands that they lived on would no longer produce fruit. 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:40.240 That meant that the cattle that they fed off and that they worked their lands would no longer be sustained, right? 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:45.279 Until he said that rain will come. 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:48.399 So then let's keep moving. 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:50.639 He goes in verse 2. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:53.920 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:59.040 Leave here, turn eastward and hide. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:07.759 Somebody say hide, hide in the Kareeth ravine east of the Jordan. 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:19.040 You will drink from the brook, and I have, yes, and I have directed the raven to supply you with food there. 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:23.120 And so he did what the Lord had told him. 00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:28.720 So first God tells him, Deliver this bad news to the evil king that could possibly kill you. 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:33.439 Then he says, Drop that bomb and then flee. 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:35.920 Drop that bond and now it's time for you to go hide. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:40.560 So if God told you to hide, there's a reason God is telling you to hide, right? 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:41.839 So think about that. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:44.480 If God is telling you to say something and you say he's like, go hide. 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:46.639 You're like, ooh, oh my God. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:48.240 Like, what is about to happen? 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:48.720 Right? 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:50.959 So this was Elijah's life, y'all. 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:53.279 Like this was his real situation. 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:58.720 Again, the Bible says he did what the Lord told him to do. 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:03.279 That means that he obeyed whatever God told him to do. 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:05.439 He walked in obedience. 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:11.600 And how hard is it for us to walk in obedience when it's a tough situation? 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:19.759 When God is telling you to say something or do something or uh plant something, and you're like, ooh, I don't know about that. 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:22.480 That sounds hard, but you do it anyway. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:26.959 It's hard, it's real hard to walk in obedience. 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:35.840 Now, the act of obedience from Elijah says a lot of how he believed in God. 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:43.360 This man again said there was no rain, and now he's being told to go to a specific place. 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:45.200 Now let's talk about that place. 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:47.759 First, God tells him to hide. 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:49.919 Where does he tell him to hide? 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:53.279 He tells him to hide in Kareth Vavine. 00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:58.559 So the Hebrew word for Kareth comes from the root word meaning cut off. 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:04.159 It means to be cut down, it means to be separated. 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:12.559 So you are going to hide in a separated place where I have told you, and you're gonna remain there. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:17.279 So now I'm hiding, now I'm being separated, now I'm being cut out. 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:26.399 In other words, God is setting up a place for Elijah to be cut off from the rest of the world. 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:28.000 Right? 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:32.639 This was a time where Elijah needed to be separated from everyone. 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:37.200 God was purposely placing him in a lonely place. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:48.480 If you can imagine, and I regret not putting the images, but if you can imagine just a desert with nothing but caves and holes in the wall. 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:51.919 So if you can imagine Arizona, something like that, right? 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:58.000 And God is telling you that right there, go to the Keith, Keith Ravine, and go to the brook. 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:00.159 There's gonna be a brook there, right? 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:02.080 But that place is a lonely place. 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:04.080 Follow me, I'm going somewhere. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:08.159 He's no longer around the prophets that he's used to being with. 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:11.279 That means he's no longer in ministry right now. 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:15.279 He had to be separated from the ministry that he had been walking in. 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:20.399 He had no friends, he had no neighbors, his cousin and them wasn't around. 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:21.759 It's nobody there. 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:23.200 It's just you and God. 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:30.080 He was being isolated and separated from human support entirely. 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:31.519 But guess what? 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:35.919 He was also separating him from distractions. 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:46.480 Many, many, many times we like to be around people because it distracts us from an issue, a problem. 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:51.600 We call somebody, whatever it is, I'm guilty, family. 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:52.559 I'm guilty. 00:10:52.799 --> 00:11:03.919 You know how many times I've called a friend, I called a lifeline, and I'm boohooing on the phone with them, and then I hang up, and God reminds me that I should have gone to him first. 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:07.440 It's so hard to eat that. 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:09.679 Because it's like, but I'm right here. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:13.679 But why could have you spoke to them, but you ain't speak to me? 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:15.919 And it's easy because we're human. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:20.639 We're human and we can see that person, we can hear that person, we can feel that person. 00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:28.960 But what about when you can't feel God, when you can't see God, when you can't, it's me, God is almost like mute, and you're like, God, where are you? 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:30.159 Right? 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:31.919 So it's easy to do that. 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:37.279 But God was intentionally telling this man to separate himself. 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:45.360 So could you imagine the feeling of loneliness when he's just like, I just spoke a word. 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:52.960 And I know you were with me because I heard you say it, I delivered it, I obeyed, but now I'm over here. 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:55.440 That could have felt like a punishment. 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:58.480 That could have felt like, what did I do wrong? 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:00.320 I thought I was good. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:05.679 How many of us think that we're doing the right thing, and all of a sudden we feel like God shunned us? 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:09.360 We feel like we're isolated, like God, you're not even talking no more. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:10.799 I'm by myself. 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:12.799 Like, what is good with that? 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:13.279 Right? 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:15.519 And and the walk gets hard. 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:17.840 We feel that we're forgotten. 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:19.600 Could you imagine him nowhere? 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:21.200 There's nobody, y'all, in the dark. 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:25.919 You just in the dark, and you're like, oh, I'm just forgotten at this point, right? 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:29.360 Could you imagine that after a while? 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:30.799 And the Bible doesn't say that. 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:32.000 Let me just say that out there. 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:37.919 The Bible doesn't say that, but could you imagine probably the doubt that Elijah may have faced? 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:40.240 He must have felt doubtful. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:40.559 Why? 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:44.320 Because he's human, and when God don't talk to me, I'll be like, what did I do? 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:47.840 I'm doubting myself, I'm down in my walk, I'm down if I'm saved. 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:49.120 I'm like, Holy Spirit, where are you? 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:51.519 You inside of me, but I don't feel you, right? 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:52.559 We doubt. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:59.759 But he continued to serve, but there was a reason that he was there alone. 00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:15.519 The Lord, the Lord, from this hiding place, he says, verse 4, you will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens, these are birds, to supply you with food there. 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:33.120 So that meant that not only was Elijah being in this cave all by himself, through this process of separation, he now needed to learn the lesson of trusting God, literally with his own survival. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:38.639 He cannot leave the cave, he cannot go get no water, he cannot get food. 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:47.840 God tells him, I'm gonna send the water to you, I'm going to send the meat to you, I'm going to send the bread to you, right? 00:13:48.080 --> 00:14:00.559 And so this is a process that Elijah is going through that he's alone, he's isolated, and he's fully depending on the ravens and the brook for water, excuse me, for food and water. 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:06.879 And it is a process that he has to go through daily, every single day. 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:14.799 I'm I'm I'm going hard here, guys, because I need you to understand the the situation and the and this process that this man had to be going through. 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:31.440 The God that will provide and sustain him daily, the Bible says that the ravens would come and they would bring them bread in the morning and meat, and they would bring him bread and meat in the afternoon. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:32.399 Right? 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:34.639 So, and then he had to drink from a brook. 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:35.919 So, what's a brook? 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:44.399 A brook is a small, narrow stream that flows from the ravine, but this water depends on rain. 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:47.200 It just doesn't come from like nowhere. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:48.159 It depends on rain. 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:52.320 The rain that he just told his peoples back there that is not coming. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:58.240 And I can't even open my mouth and say let it rain because you haven't told me to say let it rain. 00:14:58.399 --> 00:14:59.919 So I know this is you. 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:04.960 I know in the back of my head, eventually this brook is gonna dry out. 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:09.600 But God is telling him to drink from that brook. 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:14.320 Elijah already knew, again, there was no rain, but he believed in God. 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:21.120 And so now I have to hide and depend on the stream and depend on it when I know it's gonna run out. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:25.279 Like, just think about it. 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:30.480 And while you're thinking about it, I want you to think about what is the brook in your life. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:42.320 What is the brook in your life that perhaps it was something that was there for a season, or you didn't even know it was there for a season, but you depended on that, right? 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:50.320 You depended on that brook, you depended on the brook that may have been your job, right? 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:59.919 Our jobs can be our brook, our spouse can be our brook, our homes can be our brook, our children can be your brook. 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:05.519 The very thing that helps you hold your entire sanity together may be your brook. 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:11.600 The very thing that sustains you day by day and helps you feel secure could be your brook. 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:16.559 The very thing that you depend on to make you feel okay may be your brook. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:20.639 But in this situation, this brook would eventually run dry. 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:25.039 And many times in our life we have a brook and we depend on that brook. 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:27.759 But what happens when that brook runs dry? 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:34.639 Do we stop trusting God that God said, depend on the brook that I will give you from this brook some water to drink? 00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:36.559 We forget. 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:41.440 We forget and we hold on to things as if it's ours. 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:42.639 Nothing is ours. 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:45.039 All good things come from the Lord, right? 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:52.000 So you may have something now in your hand that may not be there tomorrow, but you have to trust and believe that it's okay. 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:54.399 Because it was a brick to begin with. 00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:56.639 A brick is in seasons, family. 00:16:56.799 --> 00:17:01.120 It's not there to sustain you forever, it's there in seasons. 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:01.919 Amen. 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:06.400 And God provides these bricks in our lives, and even these brooks will run dry. 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:10.079 And at one point and another, we're going to feel alone again. 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:23.599 We're going to find that thing that helps us stay afloat, whether it's that friend that helped us go through it, that husband, that wife, whatever it is, but at some point that thing is going to be taken away. 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:24.319 Amen. 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:25.759 So follow me. 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:29.519 In verse 5 and 6, again, like I said, the ravens did come. 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:34.799 They did feed him, they did bring him meat, they did bring him food, the water did come. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:47.599 But then it says in verse 7, sometime later, that could have been months later, years later, time. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:49.599 Some time had passed. 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:54.400 Sometime, but you know when you in the dark, that time drags. 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:57.839 You could be sitting in the dark and it just drags. 00:17:58.079 --> 00:17:58.960 It could be 10 minutes. 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:06.480 You ever sit 10 minutes in silence and just try to just sit there in silence with no entertainment, no instant gratifications in your face, just sitting? 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:11.759 And you think you've been there for half an hour at least, and you look up and it's seven minutes later and you're like, What? 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:14.480 I've been here for a minute. 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:20.319 But sometime later, the book dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:23.759 Then the Lord, excuse me. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:38.079 Then the word of the Lord came to him, and he says, Go at once to Serapath in the region of Sedan and stay there. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:43.359 I have directed a widow there to supply you with food. 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:47.200 That's not okay. 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:51.839 Because if you know your word, back in the day, widows ain't have much. 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:58.559 Women depended on their husbands and in their families, right, to sustain them. 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:04.240 And if you were widowed, you were kind of like had less then. 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:06.079 Let's just say it like that, right? 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:14.640 So, first you tell me to say some bad news to these evil people, then you put me away, and I'm in a hidden place, and um, you're sustaining me. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:15.759 Thank you for the provision. 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:20.000 Thank you for giving me everything that I need, but now you're telling me to leave here. 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:24.319 The brook has run dry, and now you're sending me to a widow? 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:26.319 Like that's no better. 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:27.119 Right? 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:32.160 So he Elijah goes again, coming out of that separate place, coming out of that hiding place. 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:35.440 He goes and he finds this widow. 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:36.720 10. 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:44.640 So he went to Serapath, where he came to the town gate, and a widow was there gathering sticks. 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:49.359 He stepped into the town gates, and he found this widow. 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:52.240 He's not searching everywhere, he's not, oh my God, where is he? 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:58.480 No, the Bible says that at the gate of the town the widow was there gathering her sticks. 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:03.519 He called her and asked, Would you bring me a little water in a jar so that I may drink? 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:09.039 As she was going to get it, he said, And bring me, please, a piece of bread. 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:21.839 As surely as the Lord God lives, she replied, I don't have any bread, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil, excuse me, a little olive oil in a jug. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:31.359 I am gathering a few sticks to take home, check this out, and make a meal for myself and my son that we may eat and die. 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:35.519 She was ready to die. 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:37.920 She was just like, this is all I got left. 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:43.599 I got this little bit of flour and this little bit of oil, and we're about to eat, and then we're gonna die. 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:48.880 So think about the circumstances of this widow that God done sent you to, and you're like, oh great. 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:51.680 You just guate mala to guate peol. 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:53.839 It's like from bad to worse. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:58.559 It's like, all right, but again, he trusted God, he went and found that widow. 00:20:58.880 --> 00:20:59.519 13. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:05.440 Elijah said to her, Don't be afraid, go home and do as you have said. 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:15.759 But first, make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:28.799 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says the jug of flour will not be used up, and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land. 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:30.400 What is that telling us? 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:32.160 That her land is being affected too. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:33.759 She's in the middle of this famine, too. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:35.440 She doesn't have anything either. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:37.440 Everybody's going through it. 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:43.279 Again, God is using Elijah to tell this widow to trust him. 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:56.480 He's going through his own struggles, but he's encouraging this widow to trust him and give him the little bit that she has left. 00:21:57.839 --> 00:22:01.200 Have you ever been in that situation where you just Going through it. 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:04.640 You just going through it, and don't nobody know that you're going through it. 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:07.039 Nobody even asks how you going through it. 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:12.799 Everybody's thinking you're good, and you just got you just scraped yourself off the floor last night. 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:21.680 But you come to church with a smile on your face, hallelujah, praise the Lord, and somebody comes and dumps something on you, and you're just like, God, I'm drowning. 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:22.880 How do I reply? 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:24.079 How do I say something? 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:25.279 What do I say? 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:30.640 And God just gives you a word because you forget about yourself and you're like, you know what? 00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:32.319 My brother needs me. 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:34.079 My sister needs me. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:38.720 I need to give an encouraging word to this person who clearly is in need. 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:40.720 And they don't even know that I need, right? 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:43.759 Because the widow ain't know what Elijah had just gone through. 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:45.119 The widow didn't know. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:47.440 You're in the same boat as I am. 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:48.559 Right? 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:52.880 But this is what the Bible says. 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:55.359 This is what the widow did. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:56.240 15. 00:22:56.480 --> 00:23:02.559 She went away and did as Elijah told her to do, basically. 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:09.039 So there was food every day for Elijah and the woman and her family. 00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:10.400 So think about that. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:14.799 She only had a little bit of oil and a little bit of flour to make bread for her and her kid, and they were gonna die. 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:17.039 Like that was that was her that was her perspective. 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:18.480 We ain't got nothing. 00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:32.799 But because she trusted the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken to her, it says that there was food every day for Elijah and the woman and her family. 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:37.200 So there was other people there, other than the kid, that she was gonna go back and feed. 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:49.039 For the flower of, excuse me, for the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, and keeping the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. 00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:50.799 We're gonna stay in the word. 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:57.039 Sometime later, the son of the woman who owns the house became ill. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:01.279 The same little boy that was gonna die before, I'm assuming, right? 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:03.519 He became sick. 00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:08.400 And he grew worse and worse and finally stopped breathing. 00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:10.720 When you stop breathing, what that mean? 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:12.799 You done. 00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:20.319 So it says that he stopped breathing. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:26.799 And this widow says, She goes, she says to Elijah, What do you have against me, man of God? 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:28.480 She questions him. 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:33.279 Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son? 00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:36.160 First, you want to take his bread and water. 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:38.400 We give you what we have. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:40.720 You God continues to supply. 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:43.039 I see that, but now he's about to die. 00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:45.359 And it all started when you got here. 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:46.400 Right? 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:50.960 So imagine, just imagine Elijah's mental at that point. 00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:53.119 Like he done been through hell and high water. 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:55.039 God, you sent me here for this widow. 00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:56.880 You said this widow about to help me. 00:24:57.119 --> 00:25:00.079 She helps me, but now her son is gonna die. 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:03.680 He says, Give me your son, Elijah replies. 00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:04.720 We're on 19. 00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:10.880 He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:17.599 Then he cried out to the Lord, Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even? 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:26.640 That's not even for me, even on this widow, I am staying with by causing her son to die. 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:30.240 So Elijah's being like, Really? 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:31.680 Like, really, God? 00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:33.119 This really about to happen. 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:36.079 You brought me all this way to this woman telling me you was gonna feed me. 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:38.000 I'm trusting you, and now her kid is about to die. 00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:39.759 And she's blaming B, by the way. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:41.599 So he questions God. 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:48.160 You see how I'm telling you the story for a reason because this man is starting to reach his breaking point. 00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:49.279 Right? 00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:57.839 He's believing God, just like we believe God, but it just keeps getting a little worse and a little worse and a little worse. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:25:59.920 And after a while, we're like, really? 00:26:01.519 --> 00:26:02.799 Where are you? 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:05.680 I serve you, Father. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:06.960 I love you. 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:08.720 You know that I'm going through it. 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:11.680 I talk to you, I read my word, I pray. 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:15.680 And the Bible never said that God left him, right? 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:17.680 But that's how he felt. 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:20.240 That's how he felt. 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:23.119 That's how we all feel when we're going through something. 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:25.759 So he questions God, right? 00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:30.319 And now he's feeling like he's in the thick of it right now. 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:32.079 Like you ever just been in the thick of it? 00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:33.680 You're just like, I'm over it. 00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:35.119 I'm over it. 00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:37.359 I was there two weeks ago, y'all. 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:38.880 I was over it. 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:40.640 Okay, boo-hoo, crying. 00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:42.400 I can't do this anymore. 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:43.279 Why? 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:54.079 Because I was so focused on my circumstance, and I was so zeroed in on the circumstance and how hard it had been that I started questioning God. 00:26:54.400 --> 00:26:58.319 Not that he wasn't there, but I did say, Lord, where are you? 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:12.480 Even though I knew that the Holy Spirit lived on the inside, even though I preach the word of God, even though I pray, even though I read his word, even though I try to live a faithful life, I questioned it because it got hard. 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:21.920 So his faith started to wither. 00:27:22.319 --> 00:27:24.720 His faith started to shake. 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:30.960 But even though his faith was shaky, Elijah just didn't sit there and take it. 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:36.160 He moved on, he moved forward in faith, in the little bit that he had left. 00:27:36.400 --> 00:27:39.039 Because that's all we need, y'all, is a little bit. 00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:40.799 We only need a little bit. 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:42.319 It says 21. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:48.880 Then he stretched his himself out on the boy three times. 00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:54.000 So imagine the boy, he lays his body over the boy. 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:56.240 Like that's not weird, right? 00:27:56.960 --> 00:28:03.279 And he cries out to the Lord, Lord my God, let this boy's life return to him. 00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:08.640 I think I question everything, y'all. 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:09.839 Why three times? 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.079 What if Elijah would have done it one time and he would have been like, You're not listening? 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:16.000 Let me do it again. 00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:19.039 Father God, please lift this little boy up. 00:28:20.160 --> 00:28:21.359 He's still not breathing. 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:23.039 God, you ain't even coming. 00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:24.400