God has wonderful ways of providing for us. When one source dries up, He has another in place!
Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.
JOSHUA 5:12
Most of us know the story. God delivered the children of Israel from the slavery of Egypt and was leading them to Canaan - "The Promised Land!"
On route to Cannan, God led them through the desert. It was designed by God to be a short journey, possibly as short as eleven days but wound up becoming a journey of over forty years because of sin and disobedience!
While in the desert, God caused manna to appear on the desert floor. It was a peculiar food and fell with the dew at night:
7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium*.
8 The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil.
9 And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.
Numbers 11:7-9
*(Bdellium is a gum-like resin which is similar in color and appearance to a clump of dates!)
Whatever this manna was, it was sufficient to feed a large number of people for many years and tasted like pastry!
The very day after they began eating the produce of the promised land, the manna ceased.
God always provides one source until the next is ready!
Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing;
you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
Leviticus 26:5
In other words, there will be not be a gap between the threshing time and the vintage (harvest) time and there will be enough harvest left until more can be grown!
ELIJAH
Elijah is another great example of how God provides a new source when the old dries up!
By God's authority, Elijah proclaimed a drought in Israel. During that time God provided Elijah's needs in a very unusual way:
5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.
6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.
1 Kings 17:5-6
The ravens brought him meat and bread to eat! Hello!
There came a time when that changed...
And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
1 Kings 17:7
When the brook dried up, God sent Elijah to a widow in Zarephath. She was suffering from the drought and had only a handful of flour and little oil in a jar. She was about to prepare it for herself and her son for one last meal before dying.
13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.
14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’”
15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days.
16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.
1 Kings 17:15-16
God not only provided for Elijah but for this widow and her son!
When would the flour and oil run out? On "the day the Lord sends rain on the earth!"
"On the day!" God will keep one source going until the next source is ready!
THE NATURAL WAY!
The natural human way is to stay in one place and rely on the same source for a lifetime!
The children of Israel even wanted to return to Egypt at one point just so they could eat leeks and onions again!
God had a work for Elijah in another place. He may have adapted to being fed by the ravens and drinking from the Brook Cherith! It may have been a comfort zone for him.
Still another time, God provided for Elijah by giving him "heavenly cakes!"
God is not bound by what we see or the normal way things are done or even by our 401K's! In fact, He delights in shaking us out of our comfort zones so we can fulfill our callings and see him move in more miraculous ways!
Many Christians even fall into the trap of setting up their own resources to live on. They hold tightly to savings and to retirement accounts. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with these things but so often these become our source instead of Jehovah Jireh, the Lord our Provider!
Corrie ten Boom, a dutch woman who hid Jews from the Nazis in World War II, was quoted as saying:
"I've learned that we must hold everything loosely, because when I grip it tightly, it hurts when the
Father pries my fingers loose and takes it from me!"
Elijah spoke to the widow woman the often repeated command of God, DO NOT FEAR!"
We may plan and use wisdom in preparing for the future but we are never to fear letting go - of anything and everything that we are holding onto and relying on for provision.
Savings, retirements accounts, possessions and even the purest gold cannot be relied on to provide for us. They are all on sinking sand!
Only the provision of God through Christ cannot be taken from us!
Only in the center of God's will are we truly safe from any storm!
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