Without Even Questioning...

"Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: 3 "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there."

5 So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6 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 17:2-6

It's passages like this in the Bible that really inspire me. They cause me to examine my own faith and question where it stands. Here we see God telling Elijah to basically go live in the wilderness. Go live beside a river, where you can drink from, and I will have birds bring you food. Really? I think I would be asking God a few questions before marching off to do such a thing. I would want to know, how often will the ravens bring me food? What am I to do here in the wilderness? What is the purpose of this? Questions, questions, questions. Yet Elijah simply follows the instructions of the Lord. "He did what the Lord told him." Could I even come close to that kind of faith? I don't know about that...

This also brings up another interesting thought. In today's day and age so many people are so cautious. I've heard so many people say that we need to really double check where our instructions are coming from. We need to double check and triple check to make sure that the idea we are following is from God and not from the Devil. And while I can applaud that desire to make sure it is truly the will of God being followed, there is also something to be said for Elijah's position. Elijah knew God. He knew the voice of God and he knew what God was telling him. He didn't pause to reflect and make sure it was God's voice and not the enemies. He knew with absolute certainty that his instructions came from His God. That's a relationship worth striving for! To know with 100% certainty that you are following God's instructions, to hear that Voice and be confident that you are going where He wants you to go- regardless of how strange it may seem at the time.

Elijah was certainly a man after God's own heart, and while he may be a lofty benchmark to strive for, I still think it's worth it. To even have a fraction of the faith and confidence that he had would be amazing. I just love how each and every day I can dig into God's Word and find something completely new and awe-inspiring. What a wonderful book!