Morning will break

What does you faith mean to you?

Is it an active faith? Is it the kind of faith that means everything to you? Sometimes I wonder if I have that kind of faith. The rest of the time I wonder why everyone else doesn't have the same kind I have. Makes me the nut that I am, I guess.

The Bible tells of a man name Elijah, who was such a man of God that he defeated scores of prophets of Baal in a kind of supernatural shout off, setting fire to wet wood simply by calling it down from heaven.

But later, God told him this: Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.”

So Elijah did as the Lord told him and camped beside Kerith Brook, east of the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook"

But here's what gets me about this whole thing. Elijah did EXACTLY as the Lord told him. In direct contact with God, he did EXACTLY what he was told.

The next sentence says this: "But after a while the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land."

He did EXACTLY what the Lord said the the brook dried up anyway.

Sometimes it's hard to see where the Lord is taking us and our natural reaction is to question him first, then our faith next. "Maybe I got it wrong. Maybe that's not what he wanted. Maybe, maybe, maybe." And finally our faith is tested.

Two things can happen. Our faith is strengthened, or it snaps.

All we have to do is wait.

The next sentence after the brook dried up is this: "Then the Lord said to Elijah, 9 “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.”

The brook dries up, the Lord moves you again. Your faith is not merely restored, it is greater than it ever was.

Oh, there's more.

"So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.”

But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”

But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”

So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her son continued to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah."

Not only was Elijah's faith strengthened, but he strengthened someone else's.

Look, no one is saying this is easy. No one is saying you won't have dark moments. But hang on, the morning is coming.