We are presented with many instances in the Bible when God was more than enough. Scan through your Bible and you will see how people were surprised by God’s abundant supply. God’s abundant supply has been witnessed in the way that God intervenes in the lives of His people. He always comes through and supplies for His children.
Philippians 4:19 NKJV And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Out of His abundant wealth, God will do more than what you can imagine. God is not limited by the things that we see or have in our store houses. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly more.
Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
So often our eyes get blinded by circumstances and situations that we face and we cannot see that God is with us and is working. Everyone is going to be faced with various frightening attacks of the enemy. Some of those are blatant and in our face, while other snares and traps are hidden until they spring upon us. God wants you to know that in everything He is a very present help, even in times of trouble.
When God told Moses to go back into Egypt and bring His people out, God had abundant supply to accomplish His plan.
Exodus 3:10 NKJV Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.
Do you understand that it is no small thing to bring millions of people out from under slavery and bondage?
When God sent Moses to Egypt, the need was great and the impossibilities seemed endless. In all of God’s wisdom and knowledge, He knew how Pharaoh would respond. He knew that the Egyptians would strive against God’s plan. God was prepared for the Red Sea Crossing. He knew that the people could not carry enough food and water to sustain life in the wilderness. God was prepared for everything they would face.
When they were thirsty, God provided water from a rock that was sufficient to quench all of their thirst.
How did God do that? How could they get through the Red Sea? How could millions of people be fed, sustained, and prosper in the wilderness? How do you get water from a rock in a dry and weary land? Don’t question God in the wilderness. He knows how to do what no one else can do.
They were walking in God’s presence through the wilderness.
1 Corinthians 10:1-4 NKJV Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.
Elijah was one of God’s mighty prophets.
During his life, Israel had fallen into idolatry under the reign of King Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel. After Ahab married Jezebel, they set up an altar for Baal in a temple for Baal that he set up in Samaria. King Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him, (1 Kings 16:29). It was at that time that God proclaimed a three year famine and drought by the word of His prophet Elijah.
Even in bad times, God has a plan for His people.
Immediately after announcing the famine and drought, God sent Elijah to the Brook Cherith which flows into the Jordan. God said, “You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening, and he drank from the brook. When the drought became severe, the brook dried up.
What are you going to do when the thing God has sustained you with dries up?
1 Kings 17:8-9 NKJV Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
You can almost feel his excitement…
Has God ever told you, “I will take care of you?” Has He ever said, “Don’t worry, everything will work out?” Elijah did not know what to expect, but he knew that God was going to work everything out. Have you ever figured it all out in your mind and things did not work that way?
God’s sources of deliverance and blessing do not always fit within our definition of “provision and blessing.”
Philippians 4:19 NKJV And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
When Elijah arrived at Zarephath, what he found was not what you would suppose. God had told the man of God, “I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” When he saw the woman, she knew nothing about what God had said.
1 Kings 17:10 NKJV So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.”
The woman was where Elijah was expecting to find her. The Lord knew where she was, and He knew exactly what was going on in her life. A “little water in a cup,” is the least she could do, but she was willing to help the man of God.
1 Kings 17:11 NKJV And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”
Remember that the famine and drought was severe. Elijah only asked for a morsel or mouthful of bread.
1 Kings 17:12 NKJV So she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”
Have you been faced with information or circumstances that do not match your expectations?
God had told him, “I have prepared a widow who will sustain and provide.” You never expected that you would face what you faced. You thought “everything will be alright” meant you were only going to be richly blessed without test. What does it mean, “I have prepared a widow who will sustain and provide?” God knows something you don’t know. He is ready to do something you have not expected.
What did Elijah see?
The widow was dejected and desolate, and was down to her last handful of flour in the bin and only a little oil in a jar. She and her son were about to make their last small piece of bread and prepare to die.
God said, ”I have prepared a widow who will sustain and provide.”
When you are walking in God’s presence, anything is possible.
When your expectations are not your reality, you need to apply God’s word and promise to your situation.
1 Kings 17:13-14 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.” For thus says the Lord God of Israel: “The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day the Lord sends rain upon the earth…”
God knows how to work it out.
This is the marvel of serving the awesome omnipotent God. God can supply when there appears to be no supply. God knows how to work it out. You can count on God’s answers! You don’t have to try to make this work. You can count on God.
He is El Shaddai, the Lord Almighty.
When God revealed Himself to Abraham as El Shaddai, He said: “I am the Lord Almighty, I will multiply you and give you this land.” (Genesis 17) God kept millions of His people as they wondered in the wilderness. He took away all sickness from them and they were not afflicted with the terrible diseases or plagues of Egypt. Their clothes did not wear out. God gave them bread from heaven and water from a rock in the wilderness and sustained them for forty years.
God knows how to provide for your need.
El Shaddai was able to feed thousands with seven small loaves of bread and a few little fish. He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” It is easier when your storehouse is full, but God is not limited by little things. He can supply one day at a time and a little here and a little there, or He can open windows in heaven and give more than you can take in. God knows where to send the ravens so that they arrive at your door on time. His storehouse is full. You don’t have to trust the widow’s barrel that is empty or the widow that is ready to die. God is able to sustain both and supply your need. Put your trust in God’s abundant supply. God works where things seem impossible and He can do what no one else can do.
1 Kings 17:16 NKJV 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 17:16 NLT For no matter how much they used, there was always enough left in the containers, just as the LORD had promised through Elijah.
The barrel of meal could not be used up and the cruse of oil did not fail.
God will not let you down.
The barrel is not as empty as you think! Your heavenly Father knows what you have need of and you can trust Him. God has an abundant supply. He will carry you through and supply your need. He will fix it for you. He is your Healer and Deliverer. He is the Savior and Holy Ghost Baptizer. He is the Wonder Worker. His strength is perfect. He can do it for you. Press on into His presence and find God’s abundant supply.
