I know given the above description of ravens, telling everyone ‘the ravens are coming!’ isn’t necessarily the most exciting prospect! Let me explain. God is so powerful, He has the ability to compel even a raven to help you out, keep you alive and even be a blessing to you! Well, you say the last time I looked ravens are still ravens and we live in a dog eat dog world, times are tough and they don’t look like they’re getting any better.
I understand today that many of us have been through the school of hard knocks and that sometimes that can make us a little cynical. But I want you to consider the possibility with me today that even at the toughest point in your life, God has the ability to reverse the very laws of nature to do something miraculous and impossible for you.
Consider with me the story of Elijah by the brook in 1 Kings 17:1-6: “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.” Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “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.” So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.”
Elijah was this great man of God and he had just given this powerful prophetic word that there would be a drought in the land. God had brought Elijah to a place of extremity and God said now I’m going to do something even more extreme, I going to speak to this bird, this scavenging bird, and I’m going to get it to feed you bread and meat twice a day. What a shock Elijah must have had when the first raven flew in, and brought this food. And it had to have been a number of ravens that came and a substantial amount of food they brought to feed a human being.
These birds were doing something completely contrary to their nature. An ordinary group of ravens would be sitting around waiting for this great man of God to die so they could enjoy their next meal! This isn’t the kind of bird that is geared up to bring life and hope! This is a bird that hangs around at the time of death, like a vulture. Within a number of days, without the intervention of God who knows, Elijah could have been facing just that.
And yet these birds did something totally contrary to their nature. Totally contrary to the way they were built and designed to operate. And God said when I speak I will do something which will reverse and suspend the nature of this bird to sustain this man’s life. Now ravens aren’t interested in being anywhere unless it involves something for them. They are hanging around somewhere waiting for scraps from the table and yet twice a day like clockwork God had them flying – probably against their own better judgement!
Who knows where they got this fresh meat and fresh bread. They probably got it straight out of heaven. If it had been up them they would have brought the prophet something far less appetizing! This was something totally extraordinary, totally supernatural.
Maybe today you’ve got people and circumstances in your life right now, and you’re thinking to yourself, ‘brother, I know I’ve got some ravens in my life, this person has been nothing but nasty to me.’ I’m telling you God has the ability to speak to ravens!
You may be in a place of drought in areas of your life. God has the ability to speak to the toughest situations, people and circumstances, and turn those situations around so they bless you! Simply because you’ve obeyed God. That’s what Elijah did. God said ‘get down by the brook and wait there.’ Sometimes God will do that. Just have you waiting somewhere. Well if you’re obeying God, you’ll have ravens visiting you before long!
Sometimes we think that waiting or tarrying is a waste of time. What if the disciples waiting for the promise of Pentecost took that view? If you’re staying in the will of God, even if you’re waiting, God will show up! As you stay in that place by the brook, staying in that place of obedience, all of a sudden you’ll find from the most unexpected places, blessings will come.
People will come to bless you. You’ll think to yourself, this person has never blessed me before, they’ve never said anything kind to me before, well, God has just spoken to a raven in your life! You’ll be sitting there like the Prophet Elijah in a state of shock, thinking my goodness I’m being fed by ravens!
I am believing for the ravens to come to you today, from the north, the south, the east and the west, to feed you and sustain you in this place that you’re at. I want to encourage you, continue to stay and continue to obey, no matter how tough things are. God has the ability to turn the toughest situations around. No matter how tough things are, when God says ‘I will speak to the ravens,’ everything will change. I am believing God today, for ravens to be coming your way!
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