Unlikely Provision – August 7, 2023

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.
1 Kings 17:5,6

Unlikely Provision

The French philosopher, Dennis Diderot, once famously said, “A deist is someone who has not lived long enough to become an atheist.” Deists believe that God exists and that he created everything. However, they picture him more like a watchmaker, a God who builds a watch and then leaves it alone to run itself. A deist doesn’t see God as active in his creation. Instead, they picture creation left to operate on its own.

Our Bible verses today show us that God is not like a watchmaker. God is active in his creation. And, even more than that, he is active in caring for his people.

In 1 Kings 17, the prophet Elijah bursts on the scene with little to no introduction. Speaking God’s word, he boldly prophesied that there would be a drought in the land of Israel because the Israelites had turned away from God and were following Baal. There was only one problem, Elijah himself lived in Israel. How would God make sure to take care of the prophet?

God provided for Elijah in an unlikely way: he commanded the ravens to bring Elijah bread and meat twice per day. God, who is in control of his creation, used his creation to take care of his people. Far from being absent from creation, God is intimately involved in directing it day-by-day and minute-by-minute.

In fact, so great is God’s love for what he created that he entered creation as a man to save it. Jesus Christ became a man with flesh and blood, just like you and me, except Jesus was without sin. Because of his love for us, he died on the cross to take away all our sins. Having given us his Son for eternity, he promises to take care of you each day too.

Prayer:
Almighty God, I praise you for your promise to daily take care of me and my family. Help me to trust your provision for both physical and spiritual needs until the day you take me to heaven. Amen.