1. God wants you there. “…. AND I HAVE COMMANDED THE RAVENS TO FEED YOU THERE.” “SEE, I HAVE COMMANDED A WIDOW THERE TO PROVIDE FOR YOU.” 1 KINGS 17:4,9

2. 1 Kings 17:2-9 Then the word of the L ORD came to him, saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the L ORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

3. Prophet Elijah ◦Was a powerful man of God ◦Passionate for God ◦Praying man 17:21 ◦He spoke God’s Word- 17:1 ◦He heard from God 17:2,8; 18:1 ◦He obeyed God 17:5 ◦Not enough to receive, to pass it on; but must live by it.

4. Are you there? God had planned a place (“there”) for Elijah ◦He will see God’s protection and provision there ◦God’s “there” for Elijah was Cherith and Zarephat ◦A brook and a widow’s house (very unlikely places) ◦For Noah, it was building an ark ◦For Daniel it was a prayer room, and a lion’s den ◦For the Hebrew men it was a fiery furnace ◦For Paul and Silas it was a prison cell ◦For Jesus it was a cross!

5. Where is my there? “there” is that place God has planned for you “there” is His perfect will for you Are you “there?” ◦Find your “there” ◦Stay “there”, until God commands you to move ◦“ The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.” Ps. 37:23

6. A place of promise “There” is a place of PROMISE ◦The ravens will feed you there ◦The natural supply of water (the brook) is just as much God’s faithful provision as the ravens ◦We are totally dependent on God’s supply whether ordinary or extraordinary- the brook or ravens ◦The widow will sustain you there ◦When the natural supply dried up.. ◦The supernatural did not! ◦Are we trusting in the river (brook)?

7. A place of PROMISE “Thus says the Lord, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A land of salt without inhabitant. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.” Jer. 17:5-8

8. A place of PROVISION “There” is not only a place of PROMISE but of PROVISION ◦Man’s promises may fail; God never fails! ◦There was water in the brook (“thou shalt drink of the brook.” ◦Ravens brought the meat just as God had said ◦At the widow’s house the Lord suspended the laws of nature! ◦“For thus says the L ORD God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the L ORD sends rain on the earth.” verse 14 ◦“and she and he and her household ate for many days.” verse 15 ◦Phil. 4:19!

9. A place of PROTECTION Elijah was a ‘wanted man” ◦King Ahab was searching for him 18:10 ◦Because Elijah was there where God wanted him to be he was a in a place of safety ◦The safest place in the center of God’s will for you ◦“ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Ps.23:4-5

10. In Closing.. Where are you now, ◦In your relationship with the Lord ◦Do you know Him? ◦In your walk with Him ◦Are you where He wants you to be ◦Are you following Him “at a distance” as Peter once did Mt.26:58 ◦Are you following Him fully as Caleb did ◦“ But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.” Nu. 14:24