Sermon Central
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What Do You Do When You Can’t Make It Rain?
Contributed by Charles Cockroft on Jul 8, 2013 (message contributor)
Summary: We believe in God's Miracle Working Power. We spent more time waiting for the miracle than actually seeing it.
What Do You Do When You Can’t Make it Rain?
And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. 2 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, 3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. 5 So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. 7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
Elijah was sent by God to tell Ahab that no rain would fall in Israel for 42 months.
He goes to the king and tells him “God is judging you, No More Rain.”
God backs him up
Elijah had no idea the drought would severely affect his life.
He drank from the brook Cherith, unaffected by this drought Soon even that dried up and Elijah was suffering the consequences of his own victory!
Elijah spent the next 3 and a half years waiting for rain.
I.) WE NEED MORE INSTRUCTION ON WAITING THAN WE DO ON MIRACLES.
During the drought, Elijah was refreshed by a brook called Cherith and was supplied with food by ravens. The brook eventually dried up, and the ravens retired (at least from the fast-food business).
Elijah needed a miracle called rain.
Elijah may have asked for rain.
God's season for it had not come.
We believe in God's Miracle Working Power.
We spent more time waiting for the miracle than actually seeing it.
We think We Know what WE Want.
GOD’S PLAN IS PERFECT.
Elijah learned a TRUTH.
Ø We need God's direction more than His mighty works.
The key to getting God’s answer is being committed to His Word.
You CAN’T "make it rain,"
You CAN set your heart to hear the Word of the Lord.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
He might not answer the way you and I want .
He will bring it the way He wants!
DELIGHT means to be “soft, delicate, or pliable”!
To DELIGHT in the Lord means to say:
• God I don’t understand what you are doing
I am just going to trust in you!
Elijah could have panicked!
He could have tried to REVERSE THE CURSE, but it wasn’t God’s time yet.
He could have walked away, gone to another country to try and find water, “WE KNOW GOD HELPS THOSE THAT HELP THEMSELVES”
It was God’s will for him to be right where he was!
He couldn’t make it rain.
God was going to speak to him!
II.) ELIJAH WAS NOT GOING TO GET RAIN AT THAT TIME.
Elijah would wait and listen!
God was speaking to his heart!
How often have you and I been frustrated concerning something we needed God to do?
We prayed, fasted, believed, got together and agreed in prayer, and yet, nothing!
If we could, we would make it rain
Instead of getting rain, This is what Elijah got:
8 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, 9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
Elijah discovered that God was going to sustain him through the drought BETTER than he never dreamed!
HEARING AND OBEYING God’s Word unlocked God's provision for the prophet.
His faith, patience and endurance all grew as a result of hearing God's Word.
III.)WHEN WE THINK THE LORD IS NOT MOVING - IT’S TIME TO SHARPEN YOUR LISTENING SKILLS.
When we can’t make it rain, listen for the voice of God.
Three reasons that God might not be sending the answer that we desire.
1.) The miracle may be approaching from a different direction.
The children of Israel had prayed for years for a deliverer. They were looking for a conquering hero who would descend on Egypt with a military force, sweeping them out of their prison to safety.
