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Let's read. 1 Kings 17:7

7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

We saw last time that it’s possible that from time to time we may find ourselves sitting by drying brooks. Things that we have grown to trust and enjoy which now appear to be drying up

We saw these could perhaps be:

our popularity

our service for the Lord

our health

our money

our friends

our spiritual nourishment

Or could it simply be that it is us that have dried up

It is hard to sit beside a drying brook.

Why does God let them dry? So that we will learn again to trust him, and not ourselves, or our circumstances.

Or perhaps he needs to loosen our roots before he replants us in some other area of service or learning?

Elijah had to be taught that his supplies do not come from the failing Kerith, but from the unfailing Saviour. It’s something we need to learn too.

Why teach us that we mustn’t trust our current circumstances? Because God needs to be able to move us on:

Look for a minute at a strange verse in Jeremiah 48:11

11 “Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs,

not poured from one jar to another— she has not gone into exile.

So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged.

Grape juice, when it is first pressed, is impure and thick. It is left in tanks for a time until fermentation has done its work, and the dregs have settled to the bottom. When this is done, the liquid is carefully drawn off into another container so that all the sediment is left behind. This emptying process may have to be repeated from one container to another until the liquid has become clear and pure.

In the case of the Moabites, we are told there had been none of this unsettling process and in consequence the people had made no moral or spiritual progress: Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another – she has not gone into exile. So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged.

This suggests that the quiet life is not necessarily the best life. Sometimes the lessons we need to learn can only come from the unsettling that God's plan provides. This explains how God dealt with Elijah.

He was settled at home.

It doesn’t appear that he had a wife but he certainly had a mother and father! Probably there would be others in his family circle. And we are not told what he did for a living but he must have had some form of employment. Later we will read that he had a servant, so maybe he was a man with some authority.

But the conviction he felt was very strong. He was compelled to pray earnestly. But now the conviction had become even stronger. He was unsettled: so he set out to deliver his message. He was compelled to go to see Ahab. But having given his message, he was not allowed to go home and resume his former life. Why not? Going back is not God’s way – he takes us forward.

Having surrendered his will to God. God was not going to let him return to his old ways.

To return to the analogy of winemaking Elijah was emptied into the presence of Ahab. From there he was emptied into Kerith and from there he will be emptied again into Zarephath. Each time he has lessons to learn which bring him closer to God, and which ultimately qualify him to take his place with Christ and Moses on the mount of transfiguration.

As he set out, would Elijah have had any concept of what God had planned for him? No, none at all.

But having turned his faith into action he opened the door into the untold possibilities that God had for him. He has begun a journey of faith and we are privileged to see how the Lord is now going to lead him.

But before we continue, what do we really mean when we sing ‘All to Jesus I surrender’?

Do we just mean we are prepared to give up some of our precious time to pray earnestly?

Or do we mean we are actually prepared to turn our back on our work, our family, our friends, our bank accounts and our store cupboards in order to follow the Lord?

What are we afraid of?

Probably all our fears come down to one: The fear of loosing control.

So do we think that we are the best person to be in control of our life?

If only we would surrender our heart and life and give total commitment to our Lord, then we would be more like Elijah: (Display this pre-prepared list one line at a time.)

Our motivation would be:

• To fulfil God’s plans
• To obey the slightest suggestion of his will
• To wait for his provision
• To spend time wholly taken up with him
• To be filled with joy in his presence

Is this sort of life actually possible in our modern world?

How can we become that committed?

What can we practically do to hand control back to Jesus?

Surely we can’t just walk away from our family, work, or church commitments?

Let’s look at that first. Are we being called to walk away from family, work or church? The last one (Church) is easiest. If the Lord is truly moving us on then yes we will probably have to join a new fellowship. It will not be our concern to help the Lord choose another of his servants to fill the role we once had!

Should we give up our work if we believe the Lord is calling us to some other work for him? Yes – if that’s what the Lord is wanting you to do – and many people have done just that.

What about our families? Some Christians have used their calling to effectively sideline their wives and children. Others have ignored their responsibilities to elderly parents. Both of these are wrong. Families come with us!

Families are fundamental in God’s plan for humans. Marriage is ordained by God, and in that union husband and wife become one (Matthew 19:4-5). The calling of one will also involve the other, and major decisions must be made with both in agreement.

What about children? We know Jesus’ attitude to children: Matthew 18:5-6

5 “And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. 6 But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea”.

Children are our major responsibility and cannot be ignored. Whatever we are called to do for the Lord, our whole family must be included and our children must never suffer as a result. But what lessons can be learnt early in life if our children can see true faith in action!

What about our parents? Parents of course expect their children to move away and live their own lives, but when they become elderly, or frail, or ill, we continue to have a family responsibility towards them. Jesus specifically warned against putting our ‘Work for the Lord’ before our responsibilities

Read Mark 7:9-13

9 And he said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honour your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.

’11 But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

(Effectively saying ‘My life is devoted to God so now I can’t waste my time or resources on you’)

It appears Elijah had no family responsibilities and so it was perhaps easier to launch out into this new life of trust. But he hadn’t been on his new path long before the brook dried up.

Read 1 Kings 17:2-7

2 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: 3 “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you 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.

7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

Unbelief sees God through circumstances, like looking at the sun through a mist. It appears to be stripped of its power and glory.

With faith though, we can put God between ourselves and our circumstances and look at them through him.

Most of us would have become anxious and would have worn ourselves out with planning long before the stream stopped. As soon as it’s flow became noticeably less we would have begun to work out our next step.

Sadly, too often we rely on our own ideas. If Sarah fails to produce the promised child, then Hagar’s son must be what God had intended. If Samuel does not come when we expect, we feel compelled to present the burnt offering ourselves.

This can only lead to problems. We work out our solution, ask God’s blessing on it, and rush into it; and it is only when we are met with insurmountable obstacles that we cry out to him, wondering whether it really was God's will after all.

Often he extricates us because he is a merciful God, but if only we had the patience to wait for his plans to unfold, we would never have found ourselves in such a terrible mess. Undoing the results of wrong decisions is always a lot harder than making them. But that leaves us with another problem:

Why then are we given free will?

And intelligence?

Surely life would be so much easier if we could simply wait for the Lord to tell us what to do in every situation? Wait for replies.

Look at John 5:19: What did Jesus mean when he said ‘The son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing’?

He didn’t so much expect a detailed plan from his father to be followed exactly, moment by moment, but rather he followed the example set by his father, knowing instinctively what next step would please him. But he could only do that because of his closeness to the Father.

So it seems that often there are no easy answers, and no direct revelations.

We can however be open to the Lord’s leading: Jesus told us to pray ‘your will be done’

How do we find the Father’s will? By studying his word, and by waiting on the Lord until a firm conviction comes as a result of our praying.

And then occasionally the Lord breaks in with a direct command – and when that happens we know it is from him, it is clear and unmistakable, and we know we must obey.

Read 1 Kings 17:7-9

7 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 of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.”

So we get our command, our word from the Lord, but it may be that we have got to leave some comfortable Kerith and go to unwelcome Zarephath. We have to leave our comfort zone and speak to someone, or take a first step, or maybe stop a habit; and we don't want to do it, the cost seems too much. Then as soon as we refuse to obey, the moment passes, and we realise it’s too late.

We all know that we do not earn salvation by our obedience; that is solely the gift of God, and we receive it by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ our Lord. But, being saved, we do have to obey. Our saviour wants us to obey him because of our love for him, because he wants us to receive his most precious gifts, and because he knows that by being willing servants we will receive a great reward.

As we study the Bible we will find that careful and willing obedience marks out those that we admire and hope to copy. The title Jesus used for himself was 'The Servant of God'. None of us can claim a higher purpose for our lives than that. And as servants, we have got to be obedient.

What lesson are we to learn from this? Perhaps the words of Mary, Jesus’ mother, to the servants at the wedding in Cana: ’Do whatever he tells you.’