MONDAY - 15TH AUGUST, 2022
MORNING WINGS DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE - Olusola ADEJUMO
GET THEE TO ZAREPHATH! - Lead and Feed Series 013
I Kings 17:8-9, KJV
"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."
May I ask what the instruction was? Where was he told to get to? Why was he told to get there? Will getting there make any difference? Will restraining not matter also? People, welcome to another day. The Spirit is ready to wing you God's word. Let's travel on Morning Wings so that we might reach the uppermost end of the sea (which would be manifested in reaching the peak of our destinies on earth).
God expressly spoke to Elijah and no fellow could even deny His telling him, "get thee to Zarephath." There are those who deny instructions. Joab did and he was confronted for denying an outright instruction of the king that should be weighty to him (II Samuel 18:12). Today, I want to show you why some still suffer though God has destined that they should be led and fed. The Lord is their Shepherd and is now coming to begin to feed them but by first issuing them instructions as to where and how to be fed but they seem deafened, non-challant and reluctant leaving the familiar they've known for the unfamiliar God is commanding. Let me tell you, you'll suffer much and make the Scripture that says, "the young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but those that seek the Lord shall not suffer good things" void by this your disobedience (Psalms 34:10). God said irrevocably and with every sense of responsibility to Elijah, "get thee to Zarephath." Listen, that was the responsibility of Elijah to see to. God knows where it's happening, where the next move is, where the cloud has gathered and where the carcass is. He only leads to where the green pasture is. The fact that there's "green pastures" means there are "brown or dry pastures" also. That's however not fresh meal. God desires you feed on the choicest meals of Zion if you'll be willing and obedient but if you'll become reluctant and afraid of what is ahead because you don't have all the details, you'll fall into want and suffer needlessly. That's why God is saying, "I have a solution. You, get yourself to Zarephath (outside the country, to another city or town in your country, to another job, to your friend's or pastor's house, the garage, the square, that restaurant) etc. There, I have commanded somebody to feed you (see to your sustenance). There, I have commanded your path and your helper to cross. That means, unless you're there, that provision can't be uncovered. You may not know the fellow but on getting there, identification would happen. The gravitational pull that happened at the valley of dry bones that drew bone to bone would pull you to the recognition of each other. You'll be locatable and both of you will come into agreement like Elijah and this widow did. Things are scheduled for locations and settings. If God is saying, "go and apply to that place because I have commanded you to be employed and sustained there while you're reluctant, if your brook dries, you'll suffer. Unless Elijah goes to Zarephath, that prophecy of being fed can't come to pass. His miracle is geography bound. His feeder is in Zarephath and not Syria. How many people has God appeared to in this manner who have wasted His instruction and are suffering for same needlessly? You've undone yourself. Lack of trust in God and fear of the unknown is costing you. You want God to tell you everything once and for all instead of being led a step at a go. You're joking. That wouldn't be faith again. God said, "get thee to Zarephath." Did you see any immediacy and urgency in that instruction also? It was even a command. Having received such instruction, it becomes sin for its holder to tarry or spend the night even where God has departed from and is commanding him to depart from also. As a matter of fact, if you're still where you should have departed from (at God's command), anything could kill you there. All the things that God's hedge of protection afore shielded you from while you were obeying God (by abiding where He first commanded you to stay) could now kill you. Why? You're in disobedience. This could open a crack in your hedge of protection. This is because while God has moved to Zarephath, you're still at the Brook Cherith. God has said, "get thee out of your country but you're still established there like a mountain." I bet it with you, what couldn't kill you before until that instruction could kill you now. Rumours of war, banditry, terrorism etc that you never esteemed previously could now break through your hold and make you unsettled.
God is saying to someone, before you and I could even revisit what I've told you and intended to make of you, "first of all obey, leave Brook Cherith (where you are presently) and depart to Zarephath (where I've commanded you should be). Until then, no second talk. I praise those who heard God and left for abroad or a new territory especially where there's no familiar face or a consciously prepared place for them at arrival. I mean those God sent there without having assurance of a system or person catering for their needs upon arrival like a student who get a full scholarship to study abroad. Such people would pack like Abraham and go where they've not been, only trusting in the God of their prophecy, Who will now ordain their path with the appointed helper. God has spoken to many like this without details of what's next. They only trusted. That's why God also is not ashamed to be called their God. If they've so much followed Him commitedly, He ought manifest to them commitedly. I'm hearing, "stop and get thee to Zarephath." In God's mind, you know where Zarephath is. The instruction is therefore not mysterious. As a matter of fact, you know how to get there. So, nothing seems too demanding but may disobedience not cage you and finally cost you.
PRAYER: Lord, make me obedient at heart. Let me hear you once and acknowledge with action seven times.
BIBLE IN A YEAR: Nehemiah 7:73-9:21; 1 Corinthians 9:1-18; Psalm 33:12-22; Proverbs 21:11-12
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