The Dirty Birds
For over a year now God has pointed me towards one of the coolest stories in all the Bible. He has slowly unveiled one detail after another, each at the exact moment I needed it. In this post, I am going to ask you to really consider who or what is your source. When God becomes your source and not just another resource, then and only then will you become untouchable by the enemy and free of fear to run the race that God has created especially for you.
One of the best examples of this is found in 1 Kings chapter 17. God introduces one of the mightiest prophets in the old testament. Elijah the Tishbite suddenly appears in the Bible for the first time and his first recorded sentence is telling a ruthless King Ahab that it isn’t going to rain until he says so. How about dropping the microphone in your opening sentence!
My favorite time in which God tells Elijah to run comes a chapter later in 1 Kings 18:46, “God strengthened Elijah mightily. Pulling up his robe and tying it around his waist, Elijah ran in front of Ahab’s chariot until they reached Jezreel.” Let’s go! When the supernatural King of Kings turns you into a world class athlete and you outrun the natural king’s best horses and chariots, that is a moment we all dream of.
This is not the case in 1 Kings chapter 17, instead this time when God tells Elisha to run, it is away from danger. He had just boldly informed Ahab that he was decreeing a drought over his land until God told him otherwise. God then tells Elijah to go quickly to the brook of Cherith and hide. Elijah obeys God and he does so without hesitation, which is a great trait of many of God’s mightiest. As a result of Elijah’s obedience, God first takes care of Elijah through the natural. For a while the brook of Cherith provides water for Elijah during the worst drought in recorded history. God controls the natural, but He also loves a demonstration of His supernatural power. Day and night God took a flock of Ravens and supernaturally had them bring Elijah meat and bread. The Israelite were to have nothing to do with an unclean bird like a Raven.
I have seen our Heavenly Father do so many supernatural things in my 50 years on earth that I have become expectant and find myself constantly longing and looking for God to show himself miraculously. So, let’s break this down one more time. God sets up the first food delivery service of all-time, let’s call it “Dirty Birds”, and then chooses sandwiches as his gourmet delicacy. Only those living large in this time were blessed with meat and bread twice a day. No way around it. How exciting is it that God uses “Dirty Birds” like you and me, the least likely, to do His most eye-opening supernatural work on earth?
Before Elijah could outrun a horse and a chariot, he had to listen and obey God and run and hide by the brook of Cherith. In between these two amazing feats, Elijah had to stay tuned to God’s voice as He experienced the following events:
- His natural source of need, the brook, dries up,
- God tells him to go to Zarephath to find a random widow,
- The widow and her son become his new natural and supernatural source providing food and drink during the drought,
- Elijah then takes on the entire Baal All-Star team of prophets, 450 in all, on their home-court in a fire falling beat-down display of God’s power,
- Setting up the finale, He takes a trip to the mountain top to birth an end to the drought through intense prayer.
- Elijah sent his servant 7 times to look for a sign of rain, which came in the form a cloud the size of a fist!
We are in a very similar time. One with so much uncertainty, one in which nobody foresees an end or a solution. My question is this. Who are you looking to as your source? It is becoming more and more obvious to me that a natural source is not available. If we sit around waiting for a vaccine, because we are afraid of COVID-19, then life will never go on.
Whether you are afraid of becoming sick or in fear of someone filing a lawsuit against you or your business, it is time that we pray like Elijah. We look to the SOURCE for a supernatural solution to the problem. We can’t get together to go to church, a sporting event, the movies, attend a concert, all because of the fear of a plague or a lawsuit.
If insurance companies will not cover a COVID-19 lawsuit, then what is the answer, or more importantly when will this all end? Do you really believe the answer is a vaccine? That is the natural answer and a vaccine would be great, but for how long will it last before COVID-20 or another world changing occurrence. To me the natural answer seems to point to a required vaccination chip being placed in your hand and you know possibly the end of the world. Personally, I am looking for a supernatural answer, the Only True Answer, and His name is Jesus. Tired of all this fear.
Photo by Stationery Hoe on Unsplash