By 
When There Is No Rain
So (Elijah) 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. 1Kings 17:5-6
A curveball: “something unexpected, surprising, or disruptive” (online Dictionary). Ever been thrown a curveball, ladies? How about a year of curveballs? After the mess of 2020 I had expected better, but the first six months of 2021 cascaded into a roller coaster of emotions. Then a July 4th misstep and I was the proud owner of a metal plate and nine screws, left wrist. Thankfully sutures were out end of July and we could head for the hills—fresh mountain air, hiking trails, a concert on the lawn!
Five days into our stay the call came: my brother had been admitted to Palliative care in a Vancouver hospital. I knew it was coming, but not so soon. The border had been closed and I had waited. Fortunately, the travel ban was lifting in four days. We had our passports with us. We were able to comply with the three-day testing window going and returning. And best of all, he was lucid. In short spurts we relived precious memories while entering the onramp to heaven. What a gift! Five days later he passed away.
A few weeks into Priscilla Shirer’s fall study of Elijah I began to realize we had been smack-dab in a drought, not of our choosing. No, it was not Elijah’s story in a time of judgment; but it was a time of extreme need. And there was God, in the middle of our helplessness, supplying us with bread and meat and water from the brook—in our case, time and attention to detail. Heaven’s rain!
And The Brook Dries Up
Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to (Elijah): “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.” 1 Kings 17:7-9
The drought continued in Elijah’s time. After all God had said “neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1), and you can take God at His word. Eventually the brook had to dry up. But who’d have thought God would send Elijah to a widow’s home for food, considering she was on her last bit of flour and oil.
We returned to Texas in September without an inkling that our brook was drying up. Routine blood tests revealed that my husband had an intestinal bleed going on. The poking and prodding and scoping began, in earnest. There was an obvious lesion in his stomach that had to be excised, metastatic from a melanoma per pathology. The fate of redheads! And a subsequent PET scan would reveal several hot spots. Like Elijah we were going to have to subsist on the help of others in the face of unknowns.
Surgery along with a five-day hospital stay followed. The so-called firmness of my bed, directly under the helicopter pad, plus the 4:30am strolls, became the things stories are made of. But in the silence of the night I found comfort. The full Hunter’s moon was perfectly framed in the overhead extension of the roof above. Every time I awakened I traced its path across the sky until I lost it on the horizon at dawn. As a friend called to mind: “the moon is always there in the sky, to show that God is faithful” (Psalm 89:37, Easy). Thank you Jesus—faithful, even when the brook runs dry.
And You Feel All Alone
Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. …“I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 1 Kings 19:3-4
The fire of the LORD fell (18:38); the people proclaimed Yahweh, the self-existent and eternal God, Supreme* (18:39); and as surely as the LORD promised Elijah, the rains poured down (18:45) after three long years. It was evident that Baal had not begun and ended the drought. Surely all would be well; God’s people would return to their senses.
Why then was Elijah afraid and (running) for his life? He honestly felt he had failed—the revival had petered out to nothing in the face of Jezebel’s threat (19:2). He had not convinced the people to follow the LORD, had had no more success than those who had gone before. He was certain he was “the only (prophet) left” (19:10,14). Not so: “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel” (19:18).
So God got Elijah alone on the very same mountain where He had spoken to Moses in the burning bush and given him the Law (Exodus 3:1-3;19:9,16). Then He got up close and personal: in a gentle whisper—not in the wind, the earthquake, nor the fire (1 Kings 19:11-12)—He essentially told Elijah He was not done with him yet (19:15-17).
Certainly, our dilemma was not to be compared to that of Elijah’s; but there are many things including illness that can deflate, discourage, and depress you, leaving you feeling alone and wondering why God is taking you into unfamiliar territory. Elijah had been so sure the fire on Mt. Carmel was the ticket to revival. The battle is not always won in the fire. We so easily miss the big plan of God.
At first glance it seemed to me my 2021 was a bit of a bust, but who am I to say? Where are you God? Are you whispering to that cousin who asked about end-of-life things when my brother died this summer? Will my nephews and their kids read the book on Heaven I sent them? What about this relatively new immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma that was not in the works five years ago, the time of the initial skin cancer’s appearance? And the crazy inguinal hernia that appeared six weeks after stomach surgery and required urgent repair? That surgeon’s personal story was amazing, of complete reversal of his potentially far-more devastating tumor while on the same treatment.
Am I listening to you God, urging me on to be intentional with my story with you? Are there people who follow me, like Elisha followed Elijah, as I follow you (2 Timothy 2:2)? Do they see you, Jesus? Above all, do I live to absolutely enjoy you and bring you glory, Father (Westminster Shorter Catechism, #1)?
How big is your God?
*Strong’s
All Scripture quotations are form the NIV 1973,1978,1984 unless otherwise noted.
Nancy Paul
Nancy Paul is Canadian born and bred but happily settled in Texas. She is married, mother of two, and grandmother of three busy boys. A long time Womenary student, she loves to read, is a lover of God's word and a wannabe writer. Nancy is a regular contributor to encouraging.com, a collection of blog articles regularly published by the women of Green Acres Baptist Church of Tyler. As well, she is the women's Bible study coordinator at GABC. 
