1 Kings 17:3-4

New International Version

Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.

For Encouragement

Elijah had declared a drought in Israel for the next few years, and it was not going to rain except at his word (1 Kings 17:1). It was a declaration of war against the idolatrous nation. Of course, it drew a robust response from King Ahab and his wicked wife, Jezebel. So, God sent him to hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan River (17:3).

Can you believe that? Is that the best that God Almighty could do to save his prophet from mere humans—to run and hide?

But that is one of the seemingly ridiculous ways of God by which He reveals His glory in our lives. And if you thought that was ridiculous, consider the following sentence in the verse. “You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there” (4).

What! Birds to feed a human being! Preposterous! Yet, God was doing what He does best. It was Elijah’s invitation to enter God’s supernatural realm to experience some of the remarkable things He does to reveal His glory.

Moses at the Red Sea (Exod. 14:16); Joshua against Jericho (Jos 6:2-5); Elisha and Naaman the Leper (2 Kgs. 5:10-14); feeding of the five thousand (Lk. 9:10-17); Healing of the man born blind (Jn. 9:6-7); Raising Lazarus (11:38-44), and much more declare His glory. The ultimate is how God chose the crucifixion of His Son to save the sinner who believes in Him. Does it make sense that someone’s death would be the means of another’s salvation? But that is Yahweh! That is what makes Him God, and we are mere humans.

Elijah might have expected something different, but that is why He is God and we are human. He says in Isaiah 55:8:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

It calls for faith at such times. Such encounters require a deeper understanding of God for faith to grasp it. You need self-control when, at the time you are exploding with anger at someone who has offended you in every way possible, God tells you to take enough groceries to rescue that person’s family from hunger that day, and even add some money to the gift. When fear has gripped you because of a threatening situation and all you hear from God is, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psa. 46:10), you need all the patience and calmness you can garner. But that is the lifeline of the believer in Christ Jesus. As it is written: “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).

We can learn from Elijah in this story. He obeyed, and God’s glory shone through. We encourage ourselves with what we know and trust God to help our unbelief. For God is full of surprises! His seemingly ridiculous ways are training grounds for our faith, if we allow them to unfold.

Pray with Me

O Lord, train my ears to discern your voice, which calls for absolute trust and obedience, and to experience the supernatural through simple faith, in the matchless name of Jesus, amen.

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