Observations on Suffering
(5) We suffer to
bring about continued dependence on the grace and power of God.
Suffering
is designed to motivate us to walk by God's ability, power and provision rather
than by our own (2 Cor. 11:24-32; 12:7-10; Eph.
6:10f; Ex. 17:8f).
(6) We suffer to
manifest the life and character of Christ (The Fruit of the Spirit) (2 Cor.4:8-11; Phil. 1:19-25).
This has both a negative and a positive aspect:
Negative:
(a) When out of fellowship with the Lord: Suffering becomes discipline from our
heavenly Father (Heb. 5:5-11; 1 Cor.
(b) When in fellowship:
Suffering becomes the loving and skillful handy work of the Vine Dresser
to make us more productive. (John
15:1-7).
Positive:
When
believers live under suffering joyfully (i.e., patiently enduring and keep on
applying the promises and principles of the faith), Christ's life or character
will be increasingly manifested as they grow through the suffering
(2 Cor.
4:8‑10;
This
means trust, peace, joy, stability, biblical values, faithfulness and obedience
in contrast to sinful mental attitudes, blaming, running from reality,
complaining, and reactions against God and people.
(7) Our suffering
manifests the evil nature of evil men and the righteousness of the justice of
God when it falls in judgment (1 Thess.
The
testing and needs of the Prophet became a means of ministry to a poor widow and
her son.
But
let's never lose sight of the fact that the same events that test us often
become the means by which God is able to use us in ministry to others.
This is
precisely what we see in this next episode in the life of Elijah. His need became a means of meeting needs in
the lives of this very poor widow and her son.
First,
there is the faithfulness of God.
The brook
had dried up but God had promised to supply Elijah's need. So the Lord comes to Elijah's rescue.
Second,
Elijah had met the tests of the brook in faith.
He waited
on the Lord.
Point:
Elijah had been faithful in the matter of dwelling by the brook. Now God was moving him out of this place of
solitude and testing into a small, but important ministry because all
ministries are important.
Principle: What a person does with a small task is an indication of
how he will handle a large one.
The next
words of verse 8 are "the word of
the Lord came to him, saying."
Let's
note a couple of things:
First, Elijah did not move until there
was communion with God. He waited until
he had direction from the Lord--He moved at the Word of the Lord.
He never
leads us, however, contrary to the principles and directives of Scripture.
Second, this reminds us just how
important it is for us to commune with God through His Word so we can know the
Word and have the foundation to use for every decision we face.
"Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to
In each of these commands there
are tests for the prophet. There are
tests of faith or trust, of obedience,
of availability and commitment, a test of
vision for what God was doing in his life, and a test of contentment.
(1) The First
Command -- "Arise." ~Wq
(qal imperative) Of course, before we can move on in the will of
God, we must arise, not just physically but spiritually.
Eph.
5:8-17
(2) The Second Command--(the natural outcome): "go to Zarephath."
What God
desires for us is to sit and soak up His Word, and then, by faith to stand up
and strive for Him in the power of Christ (cf. Col. 1:29).
Zarephath means "a smelting place, a place of testing or refining."
God uses various tests to refine
us or purge out the dross as in the refining of silver and gold.
(3) The Third
Command--"and stay there."
Next, he
heard "and stay (yashab, bv;y" "live, dwell") there."
(4) The Promise --"behold, I have
commanded a widow there to provide for you."
The Lord
was dramatically pointing out the reason for going to Zarephath. "I
have commanded a widow there to provide
for you."
Elijah's
provision would come this time by human hands, but they were the most unlikely
hands he could have imagined. Everything
about this was a test for Elijah.
"Provide" is the
Hebrew word, kul. lWK In
Aramaic and Arabic this word means
"measure, measure out." The
basic meaning is "calculate,"
or "contain" as does a vessel.