When darkness overtakes him, light will come bursting in. He is kind and merciful — and all goes well for the generous man who conducts his business fairly.
Such a man will not be overthrown by evil circumstances. God’s constant care of him will make a deep impression on all who see it. He does not fear bad news, nor live in dread of what may happen. For he is settled in his mind that Jehovah will take care of him. (Psalm 112:4-7, TLB)
We’ve had Covid and the difficult financial and social consequences following worldwide lockdowns. Now war in Ukraine. The whole world has changed. Historically the world does go through periodic political, financial, spiritual upheavals. And it never goes back to how it was before.
I draw comfort from the story of Elijah. Not just when he called down fire from heaven – but the sheer number of phenomenal miracles that took place in a very short period before that which intrigues me. All during the reign of Ahab, who, according to 1 Kings 16:30ff, did greater evil and more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel before him! An evil time indeed!
Suddenly, in 1 Kings 17:1, Elijah appears before Ahab and says, “As the Lord God lives, before whom I stand, there shall be no dew nor rain these years but according to my word.” This meant disaster for crops and people. In v2, the Word of the Lord came again to Elijah. I find it interesting that in the Old Testament we see the Lord speaks very directly to His prophets, and He commands them. That can, and should, happen today. Many times what I do is in direct response to a command from the Lord. So, now that there is to be no dew and no rain, the Lord tells Elijah to get up and go to the brook Cherith, near Jordan, where, He says, “You will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you.” It happened as God said. But after some time the brook dried up. So again God commands Elijah, “Go to Zarephath and stay there, because I have commanded a widow woman to sustain you.”
Elijah is acting under God’s command – but so did the ravens, and now also the widow. Elijah sees her gathering sticks and asks for water and bread to eat. She answers, “As the Lord your God lives, I have only a handful of flour and a little oil, and I am gathering sticks to make myself and my son a cake to eat and then die.” Elijah replies, “Don’t be afraid, do as you said, but first make me a little cake, and afterwards make for yourself and your son.” Elijah is speaking prophetically, under the command of God: “THE LORD GOD HAS SAID that the barrel of flour and the cruse of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain.” Elijah, the prophet who commanded the rain to stop, prophesies to the woman, “THE BARREL OF FLOUR AND THE CRUSE OF OIL WILL NOT FAIL YOU…”
There is a very strong message for us in this: that when we are working for God, the source of our supply will never dry up. What I need, what I lack, will not stop the supply of the Anointing Oil of the Holy Spirit and the Bread of the Word of God in my life. The Word of God and the Anointing of the Holy Spirit will never fail me, even in a time of drought.
So often we are looking for revival, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and we feel nothing will happen until this spiritual awakening comes and the Holy Spirit is poured out. But if you, as a believer, take this message of comfort from the story of Elijah, even in a time of spiritual drought and lack, God’s promise is that His Word, His Power and the Anointing of the Holy Spirit WILL NOT FAIL YOU – not even through the period of drought – until the rain comes!
This is how I have had to live. In my 72 years of ministry, I have lived through periods of extreme difficulty. Coming out of World War II, our churches in Britain were decimated, there was no move of God. I first went into the Soviet Union countries in 1961 when there was persecution of the churches. This is where I worked for 30 years before the freedom came. And yet, in myself, I never had a lack of the Power of the Word of God, and I never lacked the Anointing and the Power of the Holy Spirit.
This is a tremendous challenge to those who are waiting, thinking, “Oh, I can’t do anything until revival comes and God manifests.” I want to tell you that if you are walking with God and have an experience with God, the barrel of flour and the cruse of oil WILL NOT FAIL YOU. That’s a wonderful promise! I live according to that promise. People talk about revival in the future. I say I’ve got revival! I live in revival, I have revival, and I spread revival wherever I go. It’s true!