New Wine

I Kings 17:2-10
“Then the word of the LORD came to him (Elijah), saying, "Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
“Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." So he arose and went to Zarephath.”

In the above story, Israel is in the midst of seven years of drought that is so severe that people are dying of famine. Elijah himself is not only caught in the drought, but King Ahab and Jezebel are after his life for pronouncing the drought. But God has already prepared a place of security and provision for Elijah. Notice the past tense. “I have commanded the ravens to feed you there. --- I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” Also notice the world “there.” This was the place of provision. Both the place and means of provision were not normal but unique to God.

The God of the universe wants to do something unique in our lives. Something beyond our capacity to perceive or understand. In Luke 5:4-5, Jesus commands Peter to cast out his nets. “And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.” When he did the nets, became so full that Peter had to call for help to bring them in. Peter was an experienced fisherman, but obedience to the word of Jesus produced what Peter could not do himself.

At times our training and experience actually work against us. God wants to do something outside the box of our understanding, ability, and provision. God is calling us to a simple act of faith and obedience to His word. In John 2 we see the miracle of the wine at the marriage feast at Cana of Galilee. In verse five, the mother of Jesus tells the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." What a simple piece of advice that is often so hard for us to do.

It is time to act on what God has spoken to us, no matter how illogical it may seem. It may be something as simple as throwing your net out on the other side. It is out of simple obedience that we move from the toil of our labors into the refreshing new wine that He has prepared for us.

Andy Clark
Associate Director
World Horizons US Office
www.worldhorizonsusa.org