Hoping For A Miracle… Hoping For A Miracle… “When You’re Running Out of Everything” “When You’re Running Out of Everything”

I Kings 17:1 “Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.’”

I. Kerith: The Ravine of ________. Obscurity

I Kings 17:2, 3 “Then the Lord said to Elijah, 3 ‘Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River.”

I Kings 17:4 “‘Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.’”

I Kings 17:5 “So Elijah did as the Lord told him and camped beside Kerith Brook, east of the Jordan.”

I Kings 17:6 “The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook.”

I Kings 17:7 “But after a while the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land.”

Why Brooks Dry Up… 1. To keep me from depending ______ _____. on the brook

Why Brooks Dry Up… 2. To move me to ____________. a better place

Why Brooks Dry Up… 3. To prove that God has not ____________. forgotten you

II. Journey North: The Road of ________. Insecurity

I Kings 17:8, 9 “Then the Lord spoke His word to Elijah: 9 ‘Get up, go to Zarephath (which belongs to Sidon), and stay there. I’ve commanded a widow there to feed you.’”

Remember on The Road… 1. The path to a miracle is always through ___________________. uncomfortable territory

Remember on The Road… 2. The source of a miracle is always _________. unexpected

Isaiah 55:8 “‘My thoughts are completely different from yours,’ says the Lord. ‘And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.’”

Remember on The Road… 3. The pattern for a miracle is always CPR: __________________. command–promise-risk

III. Zarephath: The Refinery of _______. Scarcity

I Kings 17:10 “So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, ‘Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?’”

I Kings 17:11 “As she was going to get it, he called, ‘And bring me, please, a piece of bread.’”

I Kings 17:12 “‘As surely as the Lord your God lives,’ she replied, ‘I don’t have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug.’

I Kings 17:13 “Elijah said to her, ‘Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said.

But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.’”

I Kings 17:14 “For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.”’

I Kings 17:15 “She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family.

I Kings 17:16 “For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.”

What To Remember When You Run Out of Resources What To Remember When You Run Out of Resources 1. Whatever I need more of, __________ ___________. give what I have to God

Luke 21:1, 2 “As Jesus looked up, He saw some rich people putting their gifts into the Temple money box. 2 Then He saw a poor widow putting two small copper coins into the box.”

Luke 21:3, 4 “He said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow gave more than all those rich people. 4 They gave only what they did not need. This woman is very poor, but she gave all she had to live on.’”

What To Remember When You Run Out of Resources 2. Whatever I have the least of, ___________. I give to God

What To Remember When You Run Out of Resources 3. I don’t give to get a blessing, but to ____ _______. be a blessing

Recession Lessons Recession Lessons 1. God is _________. 1. God is _________. all I need

Recession Lessons 2. Where God guides ___________. 2. Where God guides ___________. God provides

Recession Lessons 3. I must trust Him ______________. 3. I must trust Him ______________. one day at a time

Recession Lessons 4. God’s promises hinge on ___________. 4. God’s promises hinge on ___________. my obedience

Philippians 4:19 “My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”