God’s Supply Line | 1 Kings 17:1-16, Isaiah 42:3, Isaiah 40:29

Hey, I want you to know something:

Where God guides, He provides.

If you are feeling empty, He can fill you, He can resupply you. His supply lines are limitless. We’re talking this week about how He can breathe new life into you and into me. I know the days are long, and there aren’t enough hours to get it all done, and we’re just kind of permanently tired all the time. Seeking coffee, seeking chocolate… something to pep us back up. But God can reinvigorate us. He can rekindle us. Let’s dig into this!

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Transcription:

Hey, I want you to know something where God guides, he provides. If you are feeling empty, he can fill you, he can resupply you. His supply lines are limitless. It’s the Bible for Busy People. I’m Erica, your host and I love this new series you and I began together yesterday. It’s called Dry Bones. Didn’t you just love reading the story that Ezekiel wrote down for us, one of God’s prophets, about how God took a valley of dry bones and turned them into a living, breathing arm. And we’re talking this week about how he can breathe new life into you and into me. I know the days are long, and for me, I’m sure it’s the same way for you, there aren’t enough hours to get it all done, and we’re just kind of permanently tired all the time. Seeking coffee, seeking chocolate… something to pep us back up. But God can reinvigorate us. He can rekindle us. Today we’re going to hang out with another prophet. This one is Elijah. He’s probably my favorite; don’t tell the other prophets. So, join me in One Kings chapter 17, and we’re going to begin in verse one. I want to note here that it had to be an exhausting assignment to be a prophet of God, to be one of God’s mail carriers. So often, the messages God gave were not well received. Listen, following God has never been an easy assignment. It doesn’t mean that we’re not going to walk through the fires and the floods. It means that God is going to walk through the fires and the floods with us. Jesus is always going to be by our side, loving us, sustaining us, showing us the way, picking us up when we fall down, and rekindling us when we’re tired and burnt out. So let’s hang out with Elijah. Now turn with me to one Kings chapter 17 beginning in verse one.

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.” 2 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah:

This is a very interesting assignment. Verse three.

“Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” 5 So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

It sounds like a fairytale, but it’s a true Bible story. The Lord resupplied Elijah. It’s tough right sometimes, but God comes to us in ways that we would never imagine. He fills our cups like only he can. If God calls you to do something, he’s going to give you the tools and the supplies you need to get the job done. Alright, we’re going to pick up Elijah’s story now in verse seven. This is one of my favorite accounts in the whole Bible. If you are down to nothing, if all you have left in the eraser of the pencil of your life is like the tiniest little bit where you try to erase on the paper and it makes a black mark and you hear the metal scratching, this story is for you because God wants to fill you up to overflowing right now. He is not the God of overwork. He’s the God of overflow. He wants his spirit to flow through you and through me. Right now, I am preaching to myself. Let me tell you, he wants to flow through us and accomplish the work through us. He doesn’t expect us to do the heavy lifting. I praise you Lord for that word. Okay, verse seven.

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 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?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” 12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” 13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. 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. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar 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.’” 15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

Okay. What God did for Elijah in the midst of being a prophet and dealing with an evil king and a drought, and what God did for the widow who thought she was going to make a little cake for her and her son and then die, God can do for you. Listen to the words of another prophet, Isaiah, another male carrier for our God. This is Isaiah 42, verse three.

He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle.

No, he’s going to throw more kindling on the fire, more hope, more faith, more love. Whatever you need. What do you need a fresh supply of? Ask him for it right now. Here are a few more words from Isaiah. These come from chapter 40, verse 29.

He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.

Listen, and army is hopeless without a supply line. They need food. They need ammunition. They need supplies to get the job done. If a commander and a general on this planet, just a human being can supply his army, how much more is God going to supply you and I for the work that he has called us to do? He is ready. He is willing. He wants to give you power. He wants to fan into flame the gifts that he has given to you. Trust him. Trust him to resupply you for where He guides He provides. Until next time, you are seriously loved.

Thank you for making time for the Bible for Busy People today. If being part of this community is a blessing to you, it’s super easy to share this podcast with someone you love. We’re all about spreading the hope of Jesus like butter. So, if you’ve got a moment to write a review, boy, we’d really appreciate that. Maybe you need a little prayer today, or you are ready to take that next step with God… I invite you to check out our show notes. You’re going to find lots of encouragement there. This podcast is one branch on a tree called Purposely, a podcast network designed with practical podcasts to help you find, and thrive, in God’s purpose for your life. If you’ve got a pulse, you’ve got a purpose.

Find more podcasts that will recharge you at onpurposely.com.