WATCHWORD:
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. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 1 Kings 17:2-6
Meditation:
Provisions for the Day – Part 1
This passage from 1 Kings is a head-scratcher. For some reason, I have a different perspective on Ravens, influenced in large part by Edgar Allen Poe, and his poem, The Raven.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door —
Only this, and nothing more.
That is not the part that colors the reputation of the fowl in my mind. Throughout the entire poem there is a foreboding building of something undefined, but dark. Sentences like – “Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore”, that did it! But it was not Poe’s rendering of a raven that should affect us, but God’s authority over all creation, including ravens, to carry His message. This is another example to help our unbelief about who God is.
The lead-in to this passage is that the prophet Elijah has been bringing God’s messages, saying things that King Ahab did not want to hear. The prophet has just announced that there will be a severe drought throughout the kingdom, and it would not rain unless the prophet gave the command. That really upset the monarch, how dare he claim to have such power, and he sought to do harm to poor Elijah. God intervened and instructed Elijah to hide and He would provide.
How can we fit this story from God into our lives? I’m betting that most of us do not consider ourselves prophets, and, most assuredly, we have no king to take issue with what we say. However, we do have an occasional drought in our lives, a sprinkling of adversity, an encounter with a mountain of worry. I’m also betting that we are not prepared to move into a ravine and wait for the ravens to provide our food. So we step into the role of Elijah and “command” the drought (the adversity, the anxiety, the mountain of worry, etc.) to cease and desist. Our command takes the shape of prayer, a heart-to-heart conversation with God. So, there before us is the spiritual question: “Do you trust God to handle your drought?”
There is an ancient phrase among those who worship the Lord that we rarely hear, then maybe only in a sermon. The phrase is “Jehovah-Jireh” which translates into “The God who provides.” Maybe we’re more like Elijah than at first glance. Not the prophet stuff, but the hiding and the waiting on God to provide, part. What say you?
Bulletin Board:
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; — vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow — sorrow for the lost Lenore —
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore —
Nameless here for evermore.
Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door —
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door —
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.
Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore —
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”
Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”
Best keep the shutters latched and a light burning tonight, dontcha think?
Prayer for God’s Provisions:
Thank you, heavenly Father, for your love and care for me. I acknowledge that you are the one responsible for my well-being, therefore, I cast all my cares upon you. And I refuse to be anxious about anything for I know you care for me affectionately and tenderly. I believe that whatever I need when I ask you are going to give me. Thank you, Lord, for the Grace to be a child in your family. Amen.
