Uncomfortable Obedience
There are times of upgrade that actually feel like a stripping away. All that was comfortable and familiar was taken from the Israelites as they set out for the wilderness.
"We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic." (Numbers 11:5 NIV)
The lack around them began to make them forget that God's purpose was for them.
"You grumbled in your tents and said, 'The Lord hates us; so He brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us.'" (Deuteronomy 1:27 NIV)
Thriving in Drought
Elijah found himself in a similar time in 1 Kings 17. The chapter opens with the prophet announcing to King Ahab that a drought would be coming in the wake of Ahab leading the nation further into idol worship. A drought from the Lord for your enemies doesn't sound so bad, but that also meant all around Elijah would be scarcity.
Sometimes we find ourselves in a stripped-down, barren season after being obedient to the Lord, like the Israelites or like Elijah. Like the Israelites, the backdrop of wilderness can cause us to feel like "the Lord hates us" (Deuteronomy 1:27) or to wonder where we went wrong. But both of these stories show a stripping down as a precursor to promise... not a punishment. Also, in both accounts, the Lord always provided for His people amidst scarcity.
For Elijah, the provision began with a word from the Lord that he was to go to an appointed ravine, and there the ravens would bring him meat and bread, and he would drink from the spring (1 Kings 17:2–6). (Photo via Pexels)
In this specific window of time, obedience for Elijah looked like going, and then it looked like being in the place that the Lord told him to stay. Beyond that, it was a simple receiving, like the Israelites with the manna. There was no earning it, no asking for it or chasing it down, just positioning himself according to the Lord's direction and waiting for the promised sustenance to come.
A Time to Ask
We have all experienced times where the Lord has had us wait and receive, but some of us get stuck there. We start to think that for the rest of forever, we will stay and wait, and whatever the Lord wants us to have will just float down to us. The story of Elijah reminds us that while God does operate that way for some seasons, He also is the God of the "ask."
Elijah stayed in the ravine in obedience, and everything he needed was sent to him. Until, one day, it wasn't. The brook dried up due to the drought (v. 7). What is so incredibly relatable in this account is that the Lord didn't tell Elijah this was coming. Many times, it happens the same way for us. We're going along, pursuing the last word the Lord gave us in obedience. Then a shift happens, and it just runs dry. We're left thinking, "What happened?" or, "Did I miss it?" The answer to those questions for Elijah from our outside perspective was obviously no.
Then God spoke. He spoke a new instruction. He didn't explain why the brook dried up. When our brooks dry up, we often ask, "Why?" We want to understand the process of the Lord. But it is our prompt readiness to move and obey based on a deep-rooted trust that actually helps us pursue the promise—not an explanation.
What God did say was what to do. In 1 Kings 17:9–11, He instructed, "'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?' As she was going to get it, he called, 'And bring me, please, a piece of bread'" (NIV).
Don't Hold Back
In this season, the Lord is highlighting and emphasizing the "hard ask." It is much more comfortable when the Lord tells us to wait and receive, and—like Elijah by the brook—sometimes He does. But other times, for the same breakthrough, we have to ask. For Elijah, it wasn't just an easy ask. He had to ask a starving single mother to give him what the Lord had been effortlessly providing at the ravine. Logically, it could seem like a downgrade for both of them. The ways of the Holy Spirit, however, are rarely logical.
As the story continues, Elijah's Holy Spirit-prompted ask not only fulfilled His request, but there was a communal blessing in the ask. The widow and her son were blessed with abundance for the duration of the drought. The whole community was blessed with the miraculous when he raised the widow's son from the dead. All of this occurred during a time of famine. (Photo via Unsplash)
The Lord reminded me through this that there are times when the Holy Spirit will prompt us to ASK. Ask, seek, knock. Be persistent. Be obnoxious. And all of the things Jesus taught us about prayer in Luke 11:1–13. Those "asks" are rarely comfortable, logical, or easy.
Ask and Advance!
Perhaps the Holy Spirit has put a dream on your heart. Something you'd like to begin knocking on doors in the direction of, but it feels too big, too hard, and too impractical. Let me encourage you with this. If the Holy Spirit is taking you, like Elijah, from a season of wait and receive to a season of ask and advance, it is because the blessing is for more than just you.
God is big enough to work community miracles through individual "asks." Maybe what is on your heart is a supernatural upgrade the Lord has waiting for your entire community. Whatever move of obedience ("wait and receive" or "ask and advance") that the Lord has for you this season, be expectant. You may be in a time of stripping away all around you, but there is a miracle the Lord is working in the midst of it.
Lord, help us shift our focus from grumbling about the stripping away that is happening around us to trusting in faith in the upgrade You're doing within us.
Ask the Holy Spirit:
1. What is a dream or an "ask" that You've planted in my heart?
2. Would You have me wait and receive or ask, seek, and knock in this season?
3. How would You like me to respond in faith so that my community can be blessed?
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Sara Whitten
Arrows of Zion
Email:Â sara@arrowsofzion.com
Website:Â www.arrowsofzion.com
Sara Whitten is an author, speaker, and founder of Arrows of Zion Ministries which has been offering resources to equip to the body of believers since 2017. This ministry focuses on creating space to regularly encounter God's voice and live lives that are fertile soil for the kingdom of God. Her writings are featured in many publications, including the Elijah List and Charisma. She also hosts "Hear God Every Day," a podcast with tools to help amplify the voice of God amidst the noise of everyday life. She and her husband currently reside in Kerrville, Texas with their three children.
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