An interesting story is recorded in I Kings 17:1-7. A drought came upon Israel as judgment from God. God told Elijah to go and hide himself by a brook called Cherith. That is not so unusual. King Ahab was mad at Elijah for prophesying about the drought. Elijah was a wanted man so God hid him.
God told Elijah that he would get water to drink from the brook. He next told Elijah that He commanded the ravens to bring the seer bread and meat. That is ludicrous. A raven's brain is about the size of a walnut. They do not have reasoning abilities. Yet they heard and were moved by God to provide for the prophet at his place of refuge.
Ravens have a diverse diet. They eat rodents, fish, nesting eggs, berries, and decaying flesh. Taken all of this into account, it is even more amazing that they would bring Elijah bread and meat. The natural tendency for the raven would have been to eat the meat. They submitted to the command of God to bring Elijah food twice a day for a long time which is not their nature. They were door dash before there was door dash.
God commanded the ravens. God can also command people and move them to do all sorts of things on mission for Him. They might uproot and relocate as Abraham did. [Heb 11:8] He might call people to suffer for Him. [Acts 9:15-16] They might be commanded to love unlovable people. [Matt 9:36-37]. God might direct them to lay down their lives as martyrs. [Acts 7:1-60]. He also might lead someone to give financially to God's cause. [Mark 12:42-44].
God's ability to communicate His desires is far reaching. His creativity in communicating those needs is vast. In a thousand years nobody would have come up with a plan to sustain Elijah with ravens delivery service. The more probable solution would have been that Elijah go hunting for his food by killing deer or catching fish and possibly forging plants to feed himself. He never considered God would command ravens to bring him for food.
Don't miss this. God commanded the ravens to deliver the food to the Brook Cherith. Elijah had to be in relationship with God to hear such a word of direction. If Elijah did not walk with God and listen for His voice this story would have had a tragic ending. He would not have hidden at the brook. He would have missed out on what God planned. God is able to speak to people and in this case even ravens. Do we listen? It is imperative that we do.
Elijah had to obey by faith. It made sense to go into hiding and be close to a water supply. Would you have believed God when told He would command the ravens to bring you food? That is illogical. Many things God calls us to believe Him for are illogical. They just don't make sense. They are not in the natural order of things. God can do anything He pleases, however He pleases, through whom He pleases and when He pleases.
His supernatural activity happens after the faith steps. Like God telling Moses to hold up his staff over the waters and telling the people to walk across on dry ground when the waters parted. [Ex 14] Somebody had to be the first in line to walk between the two walls of water. Moses had to believe God would do something He never had done before. Elijah had to believe that God would provide for him in a way He never did before. It comes down to trust. Do we believe what God says?
I am praying and believing God for something I've never asked before. I am asking God for financial provision. I have done that hundreds of times, but not this way before. You see, I am asking God for a huge financial blessing because I feel prompted even commanded by the LORD to GIVE AWAY $10,000! That's right. I believe God has called Brenda and I to give away $10,000 in total to five different families. It does not make sense because we do not have that money, but I trust God to command the ravens to bring His provision to us because He is commanding us to give it to others. Stay tuned. I will let you know how that goes soon.
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