Happy New Week, 1nebody! Can you believe we are halfway through July already?! It feels like we only just said happy new month yesterday. May the good Lord bless all that concerns us in the remaining part of this year, in Jesus name, Amen!

I was reading 1 Kings 17 recently and I was amazed by God’s supremacy and precision as illustrated in this chapter. This is the chapter about Elijah and the widow of Zarephath. Four verses in this chapter showed step-by-step how God saved a widow and her son. It gave me a clear understanding of how God, from start to finish, perfectly orchestrates my life and destiny if only I trust and obey His leading.

Step 1: Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” – 1 Kings 17:1 NIV.

The chapter/verse didn’t start in the usual way where it will be established that the word of God came to His servant. Here, the words coming from Elijah were declared on God’s authority. It was God who inspired Elijah to make this pronouncement. When the threats from Ahab and Jezebel were mounting, it was the same God that told him to leave his town and go to a certain place where he would be divinely provided for which is what we see in step 2.

Step 2: “You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” – 1 Kings 17:4 NIV.

So, track with me, Elijah made this bold declaration that leads to him being instructed by God to go away for a while since this declaration has made things worse for him with his enemies. However, the source God made available to him in this verse is what got taken in step 3 and changed his trajectory.

Step 3: Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. – 1 Kings 17:7 NIV.

What do you mean the brook dried up? Was it not God who told him as we see in fine print in verse above that ‘he will drink from the brook?’ This is where you follow the Lord’s leading but things don’t go as smoothly as you expect and you begin to doubt if it was really God who spoke to you. The best part for me is the reason, the brook dried up because there was no rain. But wait, does God need rain, can he not just replenish the water daily? Was it not God that caused it to stop raining in the first place? This is where the human mind begins to spiral, why did God allow all of these to happen in the first place? We find clarity in the next instruction that came from God in step 4.

Step 4: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 1 Kings 17:9 NIV.

Alas, God was not done. Now, God wants to use someone to meet Elijah’s needs. But that’s not the best part, God said He has directed a widow to supply him with food. Even better, right?! However, when you read on, did the widow come across as one who God had spoken to? In fact, the widow did not even have enough for herself and her son, talk less of providing for another grown man. The revelation I received is that the context here doesn’t necessarily mean God had given the widow clear instructions of who to expect or what to do as we’ve seen in some other cases. It meant God had laid it all to perfection, he had moved all the pieces to favour Elijah and the widow. God had directed the day and time to work for this widow to be a blessing to Elijah and for Elijah to be a blessing to her and her household. Both their blessings were divinely orchestrated by God but came about through their obedience to God’s instructions.

Sometimes, we go through setbacks, hardship, loss, and whatever form of trials and tribulations so that we can be a blessing to others. God has authority over it all, the good and the bad, and He can work out those setbacks in your favour. I don’t know who needs to hear this but maybe God allowed the current economic meltdown so that someone can have a change in direction that will propel them to their promised land. Maybe God has allowed that certain president so that there can be a change in policies and regulations that will favour your children, business, industry, or company. God is never done working; He is directing everything to go according to His beautiful plan for your life. We just need to trust Him and obey no matter the circumstances.

God bless,

Dasola