There's a modern parable titled 'Who Moved My Cheese?" that tells the story of some mice who lived in a maze. Every day cheese would show up for them to eat, and they came to rely on that cheese. Then one day, the cheese stopped coming. Two of the mice set off through the maze to find new cheese, while two others stayed, bemoaning their fate and waiting for their situation to return to normal.
Finally, they had to leave to look for cheese, only to meet the other mice who had already found their new source. The two stragglers then set off in earnest and eventually found their new supply of cheese. There's a lesson in this story for you as we examine the connection between your finances and your purpose, but let's not talk about mice. Let's look at a story in the life of Elijah to see a similar story.
A BROOK AND SOME BIRDS
At one point in his life, the prophet Elijah's life changed because it stopped raining:
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." Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook (1 Kings 17:1-6).
I'm sure Elijah had been enjoying a normal routine of his life. Then one day it all changed after Elijah had proclaimed a drought, and God sent him into hiding. We don't know what Elijah did to feed himself before the drought, but during it, he had to rely on nature for his provision.
His extended camping trip finally ended and then it was time for him to move on to his next ministry adventure. He was probably in hiding for two years and by then, I would imagine Elijah had gotten used to this new arrangement. How did he know it was time to move on? He knew because the creek stopped running and the birds stopped coming:
Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him. “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food" (1 Kings 17:7-9).
TIME TO MOVE ON
What did God use to indicate it was time for Elijah to move on? He used the basic circumstances of life, including how God provided for him, so Elijah would know for sure it was God's will. Elijah could have waited, not wanting to get ahead of the Lord. He could have prayed that the brook and birds would resume their daily care duties. Instead, Elijah obeyed and moved on because the lessons he had learned about God's ability to provide needed to be shared with someone else—the someone else being the widow we discussed in a previous study. Elijah could trust the Lord for the woman's provision in the midst of a national emergency because he had learned how to trust for his own; he had seen God's faithfulness firsthand.
God promises to provide for you, but He didn't specify how that would happen. There's no guarantee that how He has provided in the past is how He will do so today or in the future. Has your brook stopped running or your birds stopped their daily deliveries? Are you in panic mode, trying to make sense of this latest shift in God's provision? Are you holding out for God to provide as He has in the past, or are you open to Him doing something new? Are you open to doing something new? Are you willing to move on to your next purpose assignment?
There are days He feeds you by the brook and there are days He provides through the widow. In both instances, it is the same God who is using your finances to lead and guide you. Regardless of the means He uses, He was and always will be your Provider, and you can trust in the One who stops the rain and dries up the brook to fulfill His promise to you. And once you have learned to do so, He wants you to encourage others who are just learning that lesson. Have a blessed week!
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