In April 2021 I started feeling God tell me to leave Texas and go to Wisconsin. I started praying about it and waiting for a response and well God replied, by giving me dreams about Wisconsin, dreams which came true. He also sent a woman into my life who lived in Wisconsin. Honestly, it was easier for me to pick up everything when that woman stepped into my life, but it wasn’t that easy. I had a rule I made a long time ago, well a rule a pastor gave to me a long time ago. Pastor Wade told me when I was 19 not to leave anywhere unless I had a job. When I was 19, I was convinced God was calling me to New Jersey. I actually did make it to New Jersey for 5 minutes on a plane switch while in the military. God has a sense of humor, doesn’t he? 

Well, I actually made it to Wisconsin this time. On the first day, I had a place to live, I had a beautiful woman in my arms and I landed a management position down the street with Dollar General, all my dreams and desires were coming true. The place I got to live in was my now ex-girl friend’s dad’s cabin he rents out to folks. It’s in the middle of the woods in the Northwoods. I had a small desire while in Texas to live in a cabin far far away from everyone and I guess God gave me that desire. Just me, myself, and I. Literally, I have never felt so lonely in my life. I drive 1 hour south now to a near city to set inside a Starbucks, just so I can see other people. Being alone just wasn’t the idea, it wasn’t the plan and it sure isn’t fun. That loneliness drove me to the point of packing up everything and I was going to hit the road and go back to Texas. 

Some of y’all are wondering, what does my life have to do with Elijah? Day’s before packing up and planning to leave for texas, Elijah was on my heart. I heard Dr. David Jeremiah preach on him and then that day I was going to leave for Texas, two different church leaders, one in Texas and the other in Wisconsin told me the same exact story about Elijah. Both of these leaders don’t know each other and still don’t know each other. They both were urging me to stay in Wisconsin and wait and see why God called me here. The Wisconsin Church leader was my ex-girl friend’s father and the Texas church leader was a mentor that mentor me when I first came to Christ. It was a crazy experience to have and it convince me to stay a little longer. Any other father would want their daughter’s ex-boyfriend to hit the road, this dude was urging me to stay longer. 

I have been thinking about reading the story of Elijah and seeing if God speaks to me in some way. I read the story and I see interesting things in the story that I want to just take a moment to talk about here. Still, personally trying to figure out why did God send me here and why is Elijah a key person popping up in my life lately? 

In 1 Kings 17, God seems to start Elijah off with very simple instructions. He sent him to ‘the brook Cherith’ where the ravens would provide for his food and water. The reason for this is that Elijah told Ahab, the King of Israel that there would be no rain in the land for 3 years. You could imagine Ahab wanted the head of Elijah for bringing judgment down on the land like that. The reason for the Judgement has to do with the wickedness of Ahab. Ahab was an evil king and he was the climax of how evil the kings of Israel became. It says in 1 Kings 16:30 “Ahab…did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him.” The conduct of the ruler of this nation brought judgment not just on the leader, but on the entire nation. In nations like the USA, where we have the freedom to elect our officials, we need to ensure these leaders from local to federal levels are going to honor God, because that judgment won’t just touch those leaders, but all of the nation. Just like Elijah, we are to say something and not just be silent on the fact that others who are in charge of things are not doing what is right. It’s easy for us to point the finger and blame others, but we have a responsibility also. 

When I read the Story of The Widow of Zarephath, I’m trying to understand clearly what exactly is going on here and if God wants to tell me personally something. First, we see that God tells Elijah to go to another place called Zarephath and live there. God tells him that a widow will feed him. Pretty much he goes, the widow tells Elijah she can’t feed him because she doesn’t have enough. Elijah tells her that if she does feed him, she would not run out of oil or flour until the rain returns. Out of complete faith, the widow makes food for Elijah, and then it says that the Widow doesn’t run out of flour or oil. This is a faith story of both Elijah and the Widow. Elijah had to have the faith to ask this Widow for help and the Widow had to have the faith to help Elijah. 

So the first little story, God provides using birds, nothing for Elijah to do. In the next story, God provides through a widow, but Elijah has to do something, he has to go claim that promise. Did God promise you something? Sometimes God will just make that promise come to past with no effort from us, but other times God is going to make that promise come to past, but he wants to have us involved in that plan and doing things to make those doors open. I believe God promised me a Wife, so guess what, I’m going to go on some dates and I’m going to sign up on dating apps and go on that search. What did God promise you? He promised Elijah that this widow would feed him and look at how he responded in 1 Kings 17:8-16. We need to be like Elijah in this manner and stop just thinking that God is going to make everything easy for us just because he promised things to us. 

I don’t want to make this super long, I will keep this as part 1 of the Elijah series. We will add this to the Used By God series too. Make sure you follow us and download the Grow Your Faith app. Also, please consider supporting the ministry by buying Christian products at WestFaith.store