“A Season of Need”

My prayer today is that God provides EVERYTHING you need today and that you will recognize His provision! Just this morning, I was praying through a list of needs: 

• I need Jesus to give me wisdom in a situation that is uncomfortable because it involves speaking the truth in love to a dear friend. 

• I need God to give me strength as I do the funerals of two friends while doing my best to deal with my own grief in their losses. 

• I need God to do a miracle healing in my wife’s eyes. We have been believing for her miracle for more than 30 years and we need God to carry our faith forward in strength and power! 

• I need God in this season of need, just like my friend Elijah needed God in his season of need.

In 1 Kings 17, God takes Elijah to a source of water—and a miracle! This is what is amazing to me in the story. As Elijah settles in beside this quiet little brook, God uses scavengers to provide! Ravens are scavengers and yet, in this story, God uses birds that never share to bring sustenance to His exhausted prophet. But, just as in life, a place of provision can also become a place of need, because as time would have it, the brook dries up. 

In a confusing way, Elijah’s calling led him to a dry brook. We often expect that when God calls us, the path will be smooth and easy, with blessings at every turn. But for Elijah, God called him to a season of physical need and reliance. Listen to Elijah’s desperate situation:

“Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.” (1 Kings 17:7 NIV) 

The brook that had been a source of provision to Elijah simply dried up. It was in this moment of lack and need that God showed Elijah that His provision was not tied to the brook itself but to His own faithfulness.

friend, can you relate to Elijah? There are times in life when things feel like they are drying up. You lose a job, a relationship falters, or you feel spiritually dry. These moments can feel like God's provision has dried up. But these are also the moments when God calls us to trust Him in new and exciting ways!

When God provides in a way that feels unexpected or when we go through seasons of need, it is a reminder that our true provision doesn’t come from what we see around us—it comes from Him. In those seasons, we may question if God has forgotten us, but we have His promise that He never forgets us!! In fact, in that season of need, He may be preparing us for an even greater miracle!

friend, think of the times you’ve been in need. Do you remember the desperate way that you cried out to God? Have you seen how God has met you in those moments, even when you didn’t know how you would make it? When our own resources run out, God steps in with His! 

The dry brook is not the end of the story, it's simply a transition to an even greater miracle!

Take a moment and lay your needs out before God. Pray for His provision and then, trust that God’s meeting of your need is not dependent on your circumstances but on His perfect timing and faithfulness. And, never forget my friend—you are a miracle!