“Don’t be anxious about your life, what you eat, or drink or wear.” Matthew 6:25

In the book of 1 Kings, God tells Elijah, his faithful prophet, that there will be a huge drought. Then He commands him to go live by a brook—not a deep river like the Jordan or a giant lake like Galilee, but a puny stream surely to dry up without rain. It was like saying, “I am going to bring about a great calamity and I want you to sit in the middle of it.”

Yet Elijah trusted and obeyed.

When I became a widow, I felt like I was stuck living by a drying-up brook. My husband had been the primary breadwinner and I was a self-employed freelance writer. In tough economic times, he left me with very little as far as a nest egg. Each month, as the house sat on the market, I watched the brook—my checking account—become drier and drier. But, I took  Matthew 6:25 to heart. “Don’t be anxious about your life, what you eat, or drink or wear.”

God sent Elijah ravens to feed him bread every day until the rains came. He provided daily manna to the Hebrews in the wilderness. I can honestly say God has provided my daily bread since my husband left this earth in 2010. It would take a novel larger that Moby Dick to relay all the creative ways He’s sent another raven just when I needed it. At last, the soft rain is falling, my financial brook is rising, and my faith has never been so strong.

Dearest Lord, You are our provider. All comes from You and through You. Thank You for caring enough about me to give me my daily needs—and occasionally my wants, too. Most of all, thank You for Your Son who gave all for me. Amen.

Take Action:  Write down three to five things you “need” (not want) right now. Be bold enough to pray for God to meet your needs. Fold the paper and tape it to the back of the calendar page for December. At the end of this year, see how many needs God has provided, replaced with something better, or proven it was not what you needed after all.

By Julie Cosgrove
used by permission

FURTHER READING

• Living One Day at a Time
• The Worry-Free God
• The Lord will Provide

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The post Rain and Ravens appeared first on Thoughts About God.