Pennsville Baptist Church
Sunday Morning Service
I Kings 17:1-7
Trust Me
Introduction
1. We say, “Lord, I trust you.” We say, “You are in control.” “You are able.” “You have the
power.” Yet, why do Christians act like non-Christians when faced with the unexpected?
2. I Kings 17:1-7 3 times God says, “Trust Me.”
Do you trust Me?
I. TRUST ME FOR YOUR TASK 17:1
Elijah stands before a lost, God rejecting world.
A. Elijah’s Preparation (We know little of his past.)
1. By Parents
*We don’t pick who they are or how they raise us.
*We know nothing about them, but in the midst of decay they must have stood against the norms. Parents can and must do that.
*Elijah the name means, My God is Jehovah. That name would stand out in a pagan society!
2. By Placement Of the inhabitants of Gilead the Tishbite of Tishebe in Gilead (ESV)
*We don’t decide where we are from or the color of our skin.
*Gilead lay east of the Jordan. These were rugged, wild, rough outdoor people. They
lived close to pagans. God was preparing Elijah for his life’s work.
*Ahab was a wicked king with Jezebel (16:33). “Everybody is doing it.” Not Elijah:
My God is Jehovah!
*God has prepared you. God is preparing you. For 6 months Elijah prays. Can’t you
imagine his struggle: How shall I act before a king? You can’t do this. I’m not
worthy or able. So it is with every task! Every assignment seems too big!
B.Elijah’s Performance 1b
1.God’s Participation He prayed
*Unknown to Ahab, Elijah had agonized over the sin of his people and prayed. Elijah was God’s choice.
*(James 5:17) Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
*Earnestly prayed…for six months it hasn’t rained. Assured that his prayer would be answered he goes to Ahab. So we must do with our tasks…pray earnestly.
2. God’s Presence Ahab, as the God of heaven is alive…
*What an announcement to a God rejecting, Baal worshiper!
*Israel’s God is alive!! Your god isn’t!! Elijah’s God is alive!
*This is the secret of power…Practice the presence of God! He is alive! He is
adequate! He is active!
3. God’s Preeminence Before whom I stand
*I stand before God. He is standing in the presence of King Ahab, but he stands before
God.
*I serve God. I am His spokesman. There is one greater than Ahab!
*Do you serve a risen Savior? Does He give you your marching orders?
*I perform before an audience of One!
4. God’s Pronouncement
*There won’t be dew or rain until I say so.
*Just say what God’s word says. That is absolute truth!
*His word is true! His word is sure!
What is your task? TRUST ME!
Do you trust Me?
II. TRUST ME FOR YOUR TESTS 17:2-5
After a great victory or moving of God you will be tested. After the baptism of Jesus and
heaven opened and a dove descended He was led up into the wilderness to be tempted.
Without Me you can do nothing! God is going to teach Elijah. The person God uses is kept
humble.
A.God’s Word 2
It is important (1, 2, 5, 8, 14, 16, 24).
1.God leads His children one step at a time. We always want to see ahead. We become
frustrated.
2.(Prov. 3:5, 6) Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.
B.God’s Will 3
1.Elijah may have had a Holiday Inn or Marriott Suite in mind.
2.God’s will…this is it! Many spend a life time trying to find the will of God. To some it is a feeling!
3.God’s mind and will is revealed in His Word (2, 5, 8, 14, 16, 24). He will never will anything that violates His word. Get your spiritual condition right and God will take care of your geographic location.
4.Free to choose…Grow where you are planted. Trust Me!
5.It is a brook not a river, lake or spring. A brook may dry up at any moment. Why would God place him beside a brook? How easy it is to rest on the gift and not the Giver!
6.How would he live? How would he eat? Trust Me! (Mt. 6:33) Seek God’s kingdom first and His righteousness, and I will take care of the rest. (a loose Murray translation)
C. God’s Way 4, 5
I have commanded the ravens to feed you. It’s not the birds that are feeding…it’s God!
1.Elijah was asked to trust God contrary to sight, contrary to reason, contrary to outward appearance, contrary to feeling…rest totally on Him!
2.V. 5 He did it…God came through! God is always faithful. Elijah followed God’s instructions to the letter. Obedience is the key to a victorious walk!
Do you trust Me?
III. TRUST ME IN YOUR TROUBLES 17:6, 7
If we obey…we have a strange idea that everything must be to our liking. There will be no
bumps along the way.
A.His Care 6
The ravens brought bread and flesh. He had the brook for water.
1.God has been so good to us.
2.So many times we miss the little ways that God is touching our lives. Has something good happened to you? God did it!
B. His Change 7
1.God’s Program And it came to pass
*What happened didn’t just happen. It was on God’s calendar for Elijah!
*So it is with us. Everything in my life is filtered through the hands of a God who loves me.
*Even the tests that hit me is with His permission!
2. God’s Purpose 7a After awhile….
*Much time has passed. Some say one year…I don’t know.
*In Elijah’s life the Brook has served God’s purpose. It is easy to begin to trust the
Brook instead of the God of the Brook.
*Life is made up of change. God could have done something, but He didn’t!!
3. God’s Performance 7b
*If it can happen to the lost, it can happen to those who are saved!
*It is God’s way of growing us. He wants to wean our hearts from our security
blankets to Him. He shuts one door to move us and He opens other doors!
*The outward looks hopeless: Has God forgotten me? Did I make the wrong choice in
coming? At those times we will second and third guess ourselves.
*It was a direct answer to prayer. (James 5:16) so our Brooks dry up. We have prayed:
Make me. Have me. Mold me into your image. I want to be totally surrendered to You.
God says, “O.K.” but it will hurt!
*Rather than mourn the loss of what wasn’t ours to begin with (it’s all a loan) we
should praise Him for allowing us to have it for as long as we did.
*Dry Brooks must come to teach us to depend on Him and not on the gifts He has
given to us.
Do you trust Me?
1st have you trusted Him for salvation?
Trust Him for your Tasks.
Trust Him for your Tests.
Trust Him for your Troubles.
I Kings 17:1-7 NKJV