When the Brook Dries Up

I Kings 17:1-7

One of the most dramatic characters in all of Scripture is the prophet Elijah.

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He seems to appear out of nowhere in the Old Testament during a time period when Israel was ruled by the most wicked King that they had known up to that time.

The King's name was Ahab.

The previous chapter tells us something about this wicked king and his reign.

1Kings 16:29 And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years.

30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him.
31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.
32 And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.

33 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

This is the setting for our text.

The nation is led by a wicked man who is incessantly driven to erase the religious roots of his country.

Israel's heritage is rooted in the worship of Jehovah, and Ahab serves Baal.

He has succeeded to a great extent in abolishing the heritage of Israel and has killed off most of the prophets and intimidated most of the worshippers of Jehovah God.

This is where we pick up in verse 1
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READ TEXT
1Kings 17:1  And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

2 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
5 So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.PRAY

I would like you to place yourselves in the sandals of Elijah for a moment.

You have been obedient to the command of God.

You have stepped up and spoken the truth when it was needed.

God has provided a place for you to be nourished.

He has miraculously given water and food, and you have followed His direction.

You sit there by the brook perhaps with your feet in the cool water, feasting on a well-balanced meal carried to you by winged waiters.

There you are, comfortable in the service of God, obedient and fed.

It is not a bad place to be.

You are appreciative of God's provision and confident that He has rewarded your faithfulness.

The truth is, you would be correct.

This is how God works.

Have you been there?

Can you think of how God has blessed your faithfulness to Him?

Can you think of the ways that he has provided for you?

Think of the one most visible way that God has provided for you.

I am speaking of the one thing that seems to be what pays the bills, feeds the family, assures you of God's hand of blessing on your life.

For Elijah, it was the Brook Cherith.

The brook provided shelter and sustenance.

ILL - Lytle Creek

It was that constant reminder, gurgling and splashing God's favor for Elijah.

Then, as the rains had stopped, Elijah began to notice that the stream didn't flow with quite the strength that it once did.

One day, he woke up and all was quiet.
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The brook had dried up.

This was a crisis.

Elijah is now faced with a circumstance that might have shattered the hopes of many a minister.

That one thing that is the most visible sign of God's favor in your life, what would you do if it disappeared?

What would you do if your brook dried up?

This brings us to the imperative that want to set before you this morning.
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Every Minister must trust God when the brook dries up.
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I would like to show you a few clear motivations for obeying this command, and then let us see how Elijah serves as our example in this regard.

1.) Because God brought you to the brook. Vs.2,3
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Remember whose idea the brook was?

Did Elijah see the hole in God's plan and solve that problem himself?

No - God brought Elijah to the brook.

This is essential to trusting God, remembering that all that sustains us is His doing.

Remember how Job continued to trust God even while everything was taken from him?

Job 1:21b "...the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

This story reminds me of another prophet in the Old Testament, one whose trust in God was not exactly a model of faith.

Jonah 4:6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.
8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.

We have such a tendency to become attached to our brook, to let it become our whole world.

That is a dangerous place to be.

God wants to be your whole world.

He brought you to the brook, He can bring you to another.

He brought you to the brook because He knew it was what was right for you.

If it disappears or dries up, it is not a surprise to Him.

It is His brook!

He can dry it up if He wants to!

Another thing to remember, is that the brook wasn't your only blessing or provision in life.

Look at verse 4 and verse 6.

2.) Because God took care of you by means other than the brook. Vs.4,6
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One thing that we must never forget: you have more than one blessing in this life.

God has poured out a multitude of blessing on you.

If you think not, you need to get your thinking straightened out!

The fact is, God loves you dearly and is constantly thinking of ways to show His love to you.

Psalm 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

Your brook may dry up, but it was not the only thing sustaining you.

we just have that human tendency to focus on one thing and think that we can't live without it.

The truth is, the only thing we can't live without is God!

Psalm 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

When was the last time you counted your blessings?

That song would serve us all well to remind of the multitude of blessings that He pours out on us every day.

"When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done."

Another important truth is that God is not dependant on the brook.
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3.) Because God doesn't need the brook. Vs.8,9
1Kings 17:8 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

God doesn't always have to take care of you in the same way as He always has.

God has taken care of me by many means.

He has cared for me at times by giving my family a home with a huge built-in swimming pool and parents with two incomes.

He has cared for me by leading me to the right dumpster where I found food to bring home to that same family.

That is how I grew up, learning that the brook doesn't always look the same.

God doesn't need a brook.

He can use a widow lady in Zarephath or a cattle rancher in Blue Lake.

Isaiah 59:1 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

You may be attached to your brook, but God may have other plans.

Don't limit Him to a brook.

How then can we trust God when the brook dries up?

Elijah gives us a great example with three very powerful practical steps:

1.) By speaking God's truth with courage. Vs.1

The first exhibition of faith and trust in the Lord is in Elijah’s willingness to speak God’s truth with courage.

Clearly, Elijah was delivering God’s message to King Ahab, so he was following God’s command.

Ahab was a vindictive and powerful king with a penchant for killing God’s prophets.

Elijah had everything to lose here.

What if Ahab decided that Elijah should serve as an example to those who disrespect the king?

The only thing that drove Elijah into the king’s presence with the courage to speak the truth was his trust in God.

Let me ask you, how much do you trust God?

Trust is built by exercise.

When was the last time you risked your reputation to speak God’s truth?

When was the last time you spoke up about Jesus, about the gospel when the lost needed to hear it?

I am talking about your friends.

Do you trust God enough to tell your friends about Jesus?

Exercise your trust muscles – speak God’s truth with courage.

2.) By submitting to God's provision. Vs.5

The brook Cherith was not the plushest provision for Elijah.

It met his needs and not much else.

What if Elijah had demanded something nicer?

What if he said, “God I am not sure I want to live like that. Could I get something a little more comfortable?”

This was an exercise of faith for Elijah.

He trusted not only that God would meet his needs at Cherith, but that God would teach him to be satisfied with his provision.

Elijah wasn’t concerned with the provision being lacking, because he knew the God who provided the brook and the ravens.

He knew that God had already thought of everything, and if God had put him there it was enough.

Elijah submitted to God’s provision.

3.) By following God's directions. Vs.10

For a man to be asked to sleep by a brook and live off of God’s provision is one thing.

Some people call that a camping trip.

For a man to be asked to find a helpless woman in a needy land and demand sustenance is another thing altogether.

God’s directions many times go against our pride and our natural tendencies.

You trust in God is revealed by how you follow His directions.

This would have been hard for me.

I think I would have made it at least this far, but it is hard to see myself asking the toiling old woman to fetch me some water.

The temptation would be to find some water and take it to the woman.

What if Elijah had mixed it up a little?

Beloved, God’s directions are not open to interpretation.

He has instructed you to do exactly what you must do, and within the construct of His directions is the provision that He has promised.

Do you trust Him?

Will you follow His directions to the letter?

Let me ask you this, have your impulses or desires ever led you astray?

Now think about this, have God’s directions ever led you astray?

They don’t always make human sense, but they always result in the best outcome.

Follow God’s directions.

Minister of God, are you trusting him when the brook runs dry?

Beloved, have you trusted Him for the salvation of your soul?