“The best is yet to come!” This statement has often been a popular rallying cry, especially for the Church. It’s a declaration rooted in the belief that God has great things in store for his people just beyond the horizon. And it’s a sentiment we’ve shared and stated here at Cornerstone...but, not anymore. Of course, we still believe the future is bright. But who has time for what’s to come when we’re too busy being blessed by what is? You see, the best isn’t “yet to come”—it’s here and now! God is on the move, and he is doing a new thing NOW, in the midst of our present circumstances. Instead of focusing on the future, we’re determined to follow God’s lead, right here and right now.

Trusting God in the here and now is easier said than done. That’s because God isn’t the only one that requires my present attention. Hectic schedules, mounting bills...how can I give God my time, talent, and treasure in the here and now - and still have anything left in the here and now? If I step out in audacious faith and give generously, will God see me through—not just in some distant future—but in the midst of my present sacrifices?

Well, hey, I'm going to get ready to hop right in because I got a lot of scripture. Today I got a lot of scripts that we're going to be going through. And I don't want us to waste any time. If you're going to be following along in your Bible, we're going to be in the book of First Kings to book in the Old Testament. So open your Bible midway through and make a left in the old. You'll eventually find First Kings. We're going to be looking at three chapters, chapters 17, 18, and 19. And what we're going to be looking at specifically is the account of the prophet, Elijah, Elijah. Who's ever heard of Elijah before you heard of them in the chat. You've heard of Elijah before. Elijah is one of the greatest men of God, who has ever lived a prophet who Jews hold up and revere Muslims in their faith. They hold up in revere, and Christians we do, as a man of God, this is an incredible person who did amazing thing saw God moves in mighty ways on his behalf. So we're going to be looking at Elijah in these three chapters. And we also keep in mind these other two names, these two side players, King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. You're going to hear their names pop up, as well. And that's when they set the tone real quick of what's going on in the scriptures that we will be reading. Elijah is raised up as this man of God. And what he is doing is he is called to speak power or speak truth to power because the king and the queen who are in power are evil. They're doing things that completely and utterly dishonor God. So just because they're the king and queen of Israel doesn't mean no, well, it's God's chosen people. They must be good, right? No, they are evil, doing things that dishonor the Lord. So God raises Elijah to speak truth to power. And what I want us to do is kind of start at the end. So we're going to be reading from the last set of scriptures that we're going to be looking at today as well. We're going to be looking at first Kings chapter 19. Starting in verse one, this is what scripture tells us. Now, Ahab, the king, told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he killed all the prophets with the sword. Real quick, what that's talking about is, and we're going to read about it. There's a confrontation in scripture where Elijah goes up against a false god. He goes up against the false God with false prophets. And once it's deemed that this false God truly is a false god, all of the prophets who worshipped him were put to death. And so the king is telling Joseph, well, hey, this is what Elijah did. And now all the prophets had been killed with the sword verse two, So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, May the gods deal with me being ever so severely if, by this time tomorrow, I do not make your life, like one of them, so that's not a threat. That's a promise, right? She's like, by this time tomorrow, you're going to be gone. Verse three, Elijah was afraid, and he ran for his life. He was afraid. When he came to Beersheba and Judah, he left his servant there while going on a day's journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush sat down under it, and prayed that he might die. I have had enough, Lord, he said, Who has prayed that prayer this week, who's prayed that prayer a time or two, during this pandemic, I have had enough, Lord, He said, Take my life, I am no better than my ancestors. Then he laid down under the Bush and fell asleep. All at once, an angel touched him and said, Get up and eat. He looked around and thereby his head with some bread, baked over hot coals and a jar of water who's getting hungry. He ate and drank. And then he laid down again. The angel, the Lord, came back a second time, touched him, and said, Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you. So he got up in an in a drink. Strengthened by that food, he traveled 40 days and 40 nights until he reached a tour of the mountain of God. Today, if you're taking notes, our sermon title is ravens, oil, fire, and food. Kind of a mouthful, kind of confusing, right? Ravens, oil, fire, and food. What are we talking about? Well, today, what I want us to focus on is the provision of God. I want us to focus on how God provides for us, and I think this is something we need to talk about. Because we're in a building campaign. Because we're raising funds. We need to talk about this because I guarantee there are some of you, and by some, I may mean a lot. There may be a lot of you who are out there wondering, okay, we're in a building campaign the church is oneness. You know, we're running from favor, right? We're running from favor, and we're, we're living like no one else is coming. And so we're giving like no one else is coming. What if I run out

What if I run out? Not saying you have to admit that you've thought that, but I know you have at some point. Because if you're coming to church and we're talking about giving, like no one else is coming and giving until it hurts and sacrificing, I've talked about that my wife and I are, are looking at how we can give in big sacrificial ways. It's natural to think and to wonder you to yourself. Okay, if I give and give and give, will I have anything left? Am I just gonna give until I run out? Well, I have anything left over. My daughter Evelyn, man, she's, she's a little giver. She's a little sweetheart. She's just. It's one of her spiritual gifts, man. She just loves to give. She loves to give. We joke. She's like another little mama because she looks after Griffin, our youngest son. She's like a little mom to him, making sure he's okay. She lets Jessica know if he needs anything. Right. She's all on top of that. And now she's become another mama to our little furry friend, our little dog that we just got Teddy. Man, she loves him too. And the same thing, she takes care of him the whole reason we got him, it's because Evelyn wanted a puppy. Right? So she loves him takes care of him. And one of the things that she likes to do is share her snacks. She shares the snacks with the dog shares of snacks with Griffin all the time, constantly seeing her slipping some food to them. And the other day, she was giving them something I can't remember what it was for the life of me. I think it might have been like little apple slices or something like that. But she was given some to Griffin and occasionally thrown to Teddy, and it was really sweet, right? Really sweet. She's just sacrificial, just giving, giving, giving. Oh, she reaches the end, right? And she's talking about One bite for every five she's giving away. She reaches the end goes over to the kitchen to grab another apple. And guess what? No apples left. No apples left. So she comes over to me. Dad, can I have another apple? Can you cut me up another apple? And I'm like, Yeah, sure. Let me go in, and I'm looking around. I'm like, Honey, we're out, we're out. You can suddenly see the realization like flow over her face. Maybe I should have included the dog on this. Like maybe, just me and Griff could have eaten apples. And I need to throw all these away. And you can see that moment of like; I wish I had more. I wish I had more because I didn't realize that there would be nothing left after giving and giving. And some of you. As we're talking about making commitments, we're talking about giving. We're talking about sacrificing; you may be thinking along the lines of Evelyn. I'm worried if I give give give I don't have anything left, left Left. I'm worried if I give. I'm gonna go to God and say, Okay, can I have another apple? And he's going to say sorry, Honey, we're all out. We're all out. I want to let you know if that's you. And you're wondering that that is completely normal. I wonder that sometimes. If you're feeling that way, don't feel bad, like you're any less of a Christian because you're not trusting in God that is completely normal and completely natural, to be scared to feel like man, I don't know if I give that much. It's normal to feel like Elijah and his prayer when he says, Lord, I've had enough. Lord, I've had enough. I've given as much as I can. Things are already crazy for me. Who in here knows a thing or two about a hectic schedule? Hallelujah. I see those hands. Who in here knows a thing or two about mounting bills that have just do and you're like, didn't I just pay this, and it's already due? Again? Do you know a thing or two about that? Who knows a thing or two about anxious thoughts. Thoughts that like? We got a man over here in how about you online? Do you know anything about anxious thoughts? Do you know anything about anxious thoughts about feeling like man. I just can't shut off my brain at night. And I'm just worried. I'm just worried. I just think about all this stuff. And now, on top of all of this that I'm dealing with, my church has a building campaign. And they want me to give the same time, talent, and treasure that I'm throwing at those things. And they're not wanting some of that to God, will there be an apple leftover from me? Is the cupboard going to be empty? Is the fridge going to be empty? Will I be okay? If that is you from the onset, what I want to let you know today, if that is you is if God has provided for you in the past, and can I say I want every single hand of God has ever provided for you to shoot up right now.

To see the hands online, I want to see the hands on the chat. I want to let you know if your hand is up right now. If God has provided for you, then in there, he won't forget you hear now. He won't forget you here now. You can take that to the bank if God has provided. He will provide again, and he will provide again. Let's get back to Elijah's story. So we're, we jump to the end. Now we're going to jump back to the beginning of Elijah's story in chapter 17. Starting in verse one, this is what scripture tells us about Elijah now Elijah the Tisch bite from tisby. To name right, Tish bites from tisby. And GLEDE, said to Ahab the king, as the Lord, the God of Israel lives whom I serve, there will be neither do nor rain in the next few years, except at my word, this is the judgment from God, this is, hey, you've completely Dishonored me completely lived apart from my will and my purpose for you as a king and you as a nation. So this is the judgment This is the outcome, there will be drought throughout the land, verse to then the word of the Lord came to Elijah, leave here turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine east of the Jordan, Elijah is on the run because as you can imagine, finding out that your kingdom is about to have a drought. And it's specifically because you didn't exactly make him a popular person with King Ahab. So he leaves, and he hides in the Kerith. Ravine, God tells him in verse four, you will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens, the ravens, to supply you with food there. So Elijah did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine east of the Jordan and stayed there. And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening. And he drank from the brook, incredible stuff that we read here in Elijah's life, incredible ways that God provides. You see, Elijah is in this uneasy position of having to run from the king of having to run from the authorities. And the whole reason he is running from the authorities is because of God. Think about that for a moment. The whole reason he's even in a hard position right now is because he's following God's direction. And so the king spheres, and he's chasing him. So Elijah, because of his faith, is in an uneasy position. It isn't that how faith works sometimes. Isn't that outwork sometimes being an uneasy position is the result of bold faith. It's just how it works. But there's another result to bold faith, and that is God's provision. God comes through God provides he doesn't turn a blind eye to his people. And so Elijah, at this moment where he has to take off, God provides for him. He supernaturally provides for him. Elijah has water that he receives from the brook and food delivered by Amazon Prime in the form of ravens. Ravens, like it's one of those things where you read it, you're like, okay, my Yeah, read like birds, birds brought him food. It's incredible. It's an incredible thing that we see here. And it's even more incredible. Whenever we understand what ravens symbolize in scripture, it's shocking. And what I want us to know about this is that we may be surprised by the source of God's provision in our life. I want to let you know you will be surprised a time or two by the source that God provides you through because ravens to us it's just a bird, but to Elijah, Elijah, who knows the law of Moses, who knows what Leviticus 11 says, who knows what Deuteronomy 14 says? He knows ravens are ceremonially unclean. They are impure. And they still are the Baltimore Ravens. Evil, impure, ungodly. Just don't even touch them, or you become infected, right? Like just God awful. Just terrible things, right, so.

So Elijah is being fed. This unclean, impure bird is providing for him. He must have been surprised by the source of what he needed. He needed God to provide the needed provision, coming from a very surprising source. And you may have surprising sources in your life where you are not expecting God provided he came through for you. How many people have friendships where you're saying, Man, we have so many differences between us. I like this stuff. They like this stuff. They went to this school, and I went to this school. There are so many things that separate us. But man, God has surprised me because this source has become what I needed this companionship. This friendship is not what I expected. I didn't expect it to look like this. But man, God's provided for me. He's provided for you how many people have resources or finances where you're going, man, I wasn't expecting this. I just talked to a small business owner in our church who has a crazy opportunity coming up, and it's one of those things where they're like, man, we didn't see this coming. I never in a million years saw God doing this, but man, he is providing for my family and my business in a way that I would never have imagined. They're surprised by The Source. I've been surprised by God. The source of his provision has blown me away so many times. Whenever I worked at Allstate, I worked at Allstate from 2016 until 2019. Whenever I worked there, my first day, I even started there to help provide for my family and me as we tried to start a church in Cleveland. That's the whole reason we were that I even started working at Allstate, and on day one, they an option where you could sign up for a 401k and a pension and all this stuff, and I'm like, I can't. No, I can't sign up for it. First off, I don't know what any of those are. Secondly, no, like, the whole reason I'm even working here is because I can't afford to pay my bills. Like I need every nut dollar, I need every penny at like every hint of money I need in my bank account, not in some pension account, not in some 401k. But I kid you not whenever I felt. It's not like God audibly spoke to me. But I felt compelled to start those things. I felt compelled that you just need to do this. You need to do this. At the time, I thought I'd be at Allstate maybe a year tops. I had no idea I'd be there three years, I had no clue. I had no clue what God was doing. As that 401k built up as that pension account built up in now, me and Jessica, as we get ready to make our gift to the church, one of the forms we're going to be like I said to you guys, before, we're Frankenstein, our gift, it's coming from multiple sources. But one of the sources that we're giving from is my all-state pension account. It's an account, it's got money that we've never touched, that I don't need. And I'm not saying this to brag. I'm saying this to brag on God; we were able to give $5,000 from that account. And that's an account that I started on a whim because I thought it'd probably be nothing in it. But I feel like I should do this. I had no idea that three years later, four years later, God would be directing us to use that as a gift for a building campaign for a church I wasn't even at the time. I was surprised by the source. I'm surprised as I look back at what God was doing at that time. I'm like, man, he has been providing even when I had no idea. That's what he was doing, and I may be surprised by the source of God's provision. So God provides for Elijah, He sends the Ravens he's got a Brook there where he can get water. But if you've been paying attention, God was sending a drought.

What happens in droughts, the water dries up. And so that Brook eventually dries up. And Elijah has to move because there's no water source anymore. And if you were with us, last year, I preached a sermon, talking about how new moments require new miracles, that whenever you find yourself in a new moment, you can't just keep relying on what God did one time for you all those years ago, and just keep trying to wring every last ounce of miracle out of that, right that at some point, you've got to take a new step of faith. At some point, you've got to put new trust and new faith in God and step forward, trusting Him to come through. And Elijah has to do that. As the brook dries up, he is forced to trust God in another new way. And that's where we pick up in verse nine. God tells him to go and to move off to a new area. And this is what it says starting in verse nine Go at once to zero fat. This is what God says to Elijah in the region of Saigon and stay there. I've directed a widow there to supply you with food. So I went to Zehra. Faff when he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called her and asked would you bring me a little water in a jar? So I may have a drink? She was going to get it he called and please bring me a piece of bread. Anyone ever had this happen to them before? Right? Do you just run to the kitchen real quick and so bad? Grab me a cup of water real quick. Yeah, sure. And as you go, one more thing, the sandwich. Just they'll say, Come on. Please, please. That's what I was just doing here. That's what life is doing. He's like, you can go give me some water, and while you're at it, a slice of bread wouldn't hurt, right wouldn't kill anybody. Verse 12, this is what the woman replies as surely as the Lord your God lives, she replied, I don't have any bread, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil. In a jug. I'm gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my sons that we may eat it and die. Tad bit dramatic, right? Not only dramatic, but if you're Elijah, at this point, you're probably thinking, Am I at the right place?

Like, am I God provided for me. He tells me to move on and that he will provide for me again, and he sends me to a poor widow's house. Like, is this like this where I'm supposed to be? Again, surprised by the source, You will be surprised at how God comes through for you and how he provides for you. I guarantee you Elijah was not expecting this widow to be poor and not have anything to her name. But she didn't. And God was still about to come through verse 13. Elijah said to her, don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said, but first, make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me. And then make something for yourself and your son. So he's asking her to trust him. For this is what the Lord the God of Israel says, the jar of flour will not be used up, and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land. Verse 15, she went away, and she did as Elijah had told her, so there was food every day for Elijah and the woman and her family, for the jar of flour was not used up, and the jug of oil did not run dry. In keeping with the word, the Lord spoke by Elijah. So God comes through with Ravens. God comes through with oil. And not only does God come through at this moment, but one of the amazing things is that Elijah's faith in God is is a catalyst and inspires this widow to have faith and belief and trust in God in that incredible. You see, whenever I have faith in God's provision, it overflows, and it inspires. It overflows it. It inspires other people who look at it and go. God's doing what for you? Okay, I want some of that. I want to be a part of what's going on. It's us watching these videos and saying, okay, I want that in my life. What Cassie has, I want that. What Dina Bernice have I want that Wes has I don't want that when Alex and Hayden have. Our faith in God's provision overflows, and it inspires other people. That's because your faith and my faith get this. They don't occur, and they don't get lived out in a vacuum. They don't. We live out our faith in front of other people all the time. And I want to let you know every single person in here, everybody watching online, you have eyes on you. You have eyes on you. Tell your neighbor somebody is watching me. Why is it always feel like somebody's watching me wish we could drop the song right now, right? Somebody is watching me. Someone is always watching me. There are eyes on me. And I want to let you know, I'm not saying that as a way of embarrassing you. Sometimes pastors and I've been guilty of this before we say that in the way of almost embarrassing people. Okay, you're being watched. People are watching you better live up to those expectations. I'm not saying it's embarrassing. I'm saying to encourage you that there are people out there right now who are being encouraged by your faith. There are people right now who are being inspired by your faith. Some people choose to follow God because they see your faith, and they say I want that. I want that same thing in my life. I see how their marriage is different. I want that in my marriage as the other relationship is better. And I want that in my life. People are watching you, you have eyes on you, and your faith inspires other people. Do you want to know to get this? I love this so much. We have young people in our church whose parents are now in the church. In that incredible? We have. We have young people in our church who, because they have come and found faith in Jesus. And because he's changed their life so much. Their parents are going what's going on, like what's happening at this church. And so they've started to come. And now they're becoming ministry partners, and now they're wanting to give, it's amazing. Because faith doesn't occur in a vacuum. Your faith can inspire others. I mean, Dean and Brittany Stephenson the very first week whenever we watch their video testimony, if you missed it, go back and check it out. They inspire me. These are just faithful people. Just faithful, quiet. No nonsense people who have just put their head down and followed God for decades of their life. Just follow them. Every time he said go, they go. But it says stay, they stay. They've just followed them. And I am so challenged by their faithfulness, and I'm so challenged by the life that they have lived. So whenever I see them, I see the stuff they did in the faith they had in God to provide during our first building project. Whenever we build on Killian road, I see that it inspires me and inspires my faith, knowing well if God provided for them, I can see he'll provide for me. If they were able to trust God completely. I know that I can trust God completely in the here and now. So, Elijah, his faith overflows, and it doesn't just bless himself. The widow and her son are blessed by it as well. Now, this is the thing, these first two examples that we've seen where God provides for Elijah. They've been mostly in private settings, right? The first one is pretty much just Elijah, and those birds that witnessed it, as the only ones who saw a miracle happen were Elijah and the Ravens, and then in this story, we see that it's Elijah, and this widow and her son. But that's it. These are pretty private moments of God-providing. But Elijah is about to experience a very public show of God providing in a powerful, powerful way. I will give a little bit of a cliff notes version before we hop into the next scriptures. Because what we're about to read is that Elijah finally has this head-to-head confrontation with the king of Israel. He and Ahab finally kind of go mano a mano, and finally, face each other because the king has been following his way. He's been following a God of his own, making God by the name of Baal, this false God that he and many people in the nation of Israel had started to worship. In contrast, Elijah has stayed faithful to the only true God, and God wants Elijah to confront the king to go face him and have the showdown. And so this all takes place on this mount mountain called Carmel.

They meet their Elijah, and it's kind of him against the prophets of this false God, these prophets of Bale, and so they meet there, and Elijah sets up the ground rules. He's like, Okay, we're going to see who is the one true God here. What we're going to do is we're gonna have two altars and an altar for Bale and an altar for Jehovah. And what we're going to see is which God answers, we'll put a sacrifice on each one of these altars, and the God who answers by fire is the true God. How's that sound? Prophets of Bale agree. And so that's the setting that we find ourselves in, and the prophets of Bale, they're up first. They start praying to their God. They're praying for a few minutes, and minutes turn into an hour; the hour turns into a couple of hours. No fires come in. And the Bible, the Bible, man, if you don't read it, it's very entertaining. Elijah doesn't just sit there praying and meditating while this has happened. He starts mocking them. He starts calling him out. He's Hey, I think I think bail is asleep. Just yell a little louder. Just pray a little louder. Maybe he'll hear you then, Right? He's just completely rubbing their nose and the fact that their God is not answering that their God is not providing. And so then it's Elijah's turn. Bail never answers, and it's up to Elijah. And he goes a step further. Not only does he set up his altar, but he also has the servants who are there drowses the thing in water, just completely douse it. Remember, the standard here is which God will answer by fire. So, Elijah completely Dallas's sacrifice makes it wet, just completely pours water all over it. And then this is what he says we pick up in chapter 18. Starting in verse 36, at the time of the sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed, Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, in Israel, let it be known today, that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord answered me. So these people will know that you are Lord our God and that you are turning their hearts back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and burned up the sacrifice the wood, the stones in the soil, and licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried the Lord, and He is God, the Lord, He is God. Not so private, of provision anymore. All of Israel witnesses this, seeing God move in extreme, extreme power. And what I want to let you know is that as I read this verse of scripture, this is a statement. Then a question I want to ask of you today is, first off, who receives my faith determines if I receive provision, who receives my faith where I'm putting it determines if I will see any provision if I will see God provide for me or not. You see, the prophets of Baal were putting their faith in the wrong place. And so when it came time for God to provide their God didn't answer there, God couldn't answer. Who are you trusting in today? And I know I know the churchy answer, I know that we're all like, oh, god, oh my god, right. I'm available, God like that's the only guy that I'm trusting in, and I get that, and that's the cry of my heart too. But I also know sometimes I do have that tendency. I do have that urge. I do have that temptation to follow other gods, follow the God of money, and put my faith and trust in that God to provide for me and just like the prophets of Bale. I'm calling out asking the God of money to hear my answer, to give me comfort, to give me confidence. Give me certainty. For some of us, it's the God of work. For some of us, it's the God of busyness. For some of us, it's the love of the God of love and relationships. For some of us, it's the God of substance abuse of us. For some of us, it's the God of politics. It's the God of politics. That's the altar that we worship at. That's the ultimate, and we're saying, make a change, God provides for me, politician, party government, provide for me do what I want you to do, and, and do this and do that. What God are we putting our trust in to provide? If it's anything other than God, it's a counterfeit. And if it's anything other than God, the provision you get is counterfeit, and it will not last; it will be temporary. All of those things may soothe you for a while, but eventually, they will fade. And you will find yourself crying up saying, answer me, help me provide for me, and there won't be an answer. Nothing will come and help you. Only God, only God. And you know, this is something I was thinking in, in between the first service in this service.

There may be, there may be a reason that you fear putting your faith in God. Like you kind of worry, right? We're talking about being worried that God will provide for us, and your worry may be rooted in the fact that you've put your faith in all these other gods, and they've let you down. And you're afraid that God's gonna do the same thing. And he's not. Is he not you think I have? Well, I don't know, I don't want to put my confidence because I've been burned before. You've been burned by false gods, not by V. God, and you haven't been burned by him before. He hasn't let you down before. And so, you may have a fear of putting your faith in a God, but it's because you've been putting it in the wrong God this entire time. That's me. Can I be vulnerable? My tendency, my God, the God that I worship far too often, is the God of money. Not from a material sense, not from who I want to have the nicest thing, man, go look at my car and see if I'm a worldly guy, right? You'll find it. It's the one with rough spots on the hood and the big crack in the window that I've had for about a year and a half now, right? It's not a materialistic thing, my worship of the God of money, and it's a comfort thing. It's a certainty thing. It's a confidence thing. I like the certainty that money gives me; I like the confidence that it provides for me. And so I checked my account balances multiple times every day, and I'm up to date with what's going on in my retirement savings. Because I'm, it's comforting. It makes me feel confident. Now here, when I'm here, when I'm saying what I'm not saying, I'm not saying that it's bad to be wise with money, I'm not saying that it's bad. To be frugal, though, of course, those are good things. But whenever I start relying on it to be my provision, whenever I start relying on it to be my provider, that's whenever I realize I am building an altar to a false god. And this thing will let me down, because it has, many times before. That's why I have to kill that God every single month. Every single month, whenever I write our tight check, and I make that time online, not only am I honoring the one true God by saying, Hey, I trust you to provide for me, I am putting to death, the false gods saying and I know you never can I trust you will provide for me. I know you you're never able to, you're never able to you're a false god, and I'm not going to worship you, and I'm not going to trust in you anymore. It's a constant reminder of my true provider, who is yet to fail. It doesn't mean that it's easy. It doesn't mean it's easy to kill these false gods and focus on the true God. But man, I can trust this provision whenever I have faith and God's purpose and plan. Whenever I have trust and say, You know what God's plan is good. God's purpose for my life is real. And it's valid, and it's there. As long as I can trust those things, I trust that he'll provide. I don't need to know what that provision looks like. I just need to know that it will be there. And Elijah is about to get this reminder. So we've seen God provide through Ravens. We've seen God provide through oil. We've seen God provide through fire. God's about to provide for Elijah again and give him a much-needed reminder. So we're going to jump back to where we started this entire thing in chapter 19. With Elijah in a place, we're not expecting to find him. The verse we started today off with was Elijah on the run. seems counterintuitive to what we just read. God had just moved in a mighty way. Fire, not symbolic, literal fire, fell from heaven. In front of everyone. Everyone sees the Lord as God, and the Lord moves in mighty ways. They see this, yet in the next chapter, we see Elijah on the run. We see Elijah fearful afraid he takes off because of the threat of Jezebel and Ahab. But remember what God does; let's pick it up. In chapter 19, Elijah came to a broom bush starting the second half of verse four. He sat down under and prayed that he might die. I have had enough, Lord, He said, Take my life. I am no better than my ancestors. He's on the run. He's tired. He's just witnessed this amazing miracle, but he is defeated, he is depressed, he is frustrated. Verse five, then he lay down under the Bush and fell asleep all at once, and Angel touched him, and he said, Get up and eat. Elijah looked around in there by his head with some bread baked over hot coals in a jar of water, and he ate it, drank it, and then lay down again. The angel, the Lord, came back a second time, touched him, and said, Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you. So he got up and ate and drank, strengthened by that food, he traveled 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

You see, what I love about this last set of scriptures that we're looking at is that it shows God's provision isn't just powerful. It's personal. It's not just powerful. It's personal. Elijah had just witnessed the powerful moves of God. He had just witnessed DoorDash via Ravens. He had just witnessed oil that was just filling up the bottom of that, but now it's practically overflowing. He witnessed fire fall from heaven. He witnessed all these things and yet felt defeated. He saw all of these things. He saw God move in powerful ways. And he still felt fearful. And that's because sometimes the move of God that we need most in our lives is not a powerful move but a personal one. Sometimes we need the most is not power, but personal. Sometimes what we need isn't the parting of the sea but the wiping away of tears. You've been there, where it's like, yeah, that's great that God does all these mighty, mighty things. But man, I just need a personal move. I just need him to do something in my life right now. And God does that for Elijah. He provides him with something so personal, something so intimate. He cooks him dinner, cooks some dinner, lets him have a nap. Elijah, this tired, hungry, beaten, defeated man, falls asleep and wakes up to a fire, water, and fresh food. God gives him comfort in this intimate act of provision. It's not just powerful; it's personal. And so maybe in your life, maybe in your life, God's provision isn't curing cancer. But it's restoring that relationship you thought would never get restored. And it means more to you than any good prognosis you would ever get. Because it's not about power anymore. It's about personal. It's about intimacy. Maybe God's biggest provision in your life isn't letting you win the lottery isn't letting you hit Mega Millions. But it's giving you those relationships and those friendships and those companions that you need so badly. You felt alone for so long, and God has brought people into your life, and you're just thanking him, saying, God, thank you. I didn't need anything powerful. I just needed something personal. And you've done it for me. Maybe the biggest provision of God isn't you losing that way. But him taking the weight off of your shoulders, saying you're trying to be too perfect. You're trying to just carry this all by yourself. Let me help you. Let me help you. Let me take some of that off of your shoulders. I know in my life, the biggest provision I've ever experienced was not me getting that job at all state that like saved our finances. And that's a contender. That was pretty big. The biggest provision wasn't me getting the lead pastor job here at Cornerstone, returning to my home church, and being the lead pastor. That's not it, either. The biggest provision I ever got wasn't these powerful big Whoa, look at that things. It was the peace God gave me in the midst of my dad's death. It's the biggest provision God's ever provided for me. Absolutely. You can clap for that. Because God, God moved in my family and me in such a strong way. And it wasn't powerful, wasn't this big, mighty thing where everyone's going, Whoa, look at that. It was personal, and it was intimate, and it was comfortable, and it was peace. And that's what I needed. Not something powerful, but something personal. Just something personal, Elijah, he had witnessed God's power. He just needed personal comfort. That's exactly what God gave him personal comfort, personal provision. And I think God also did another thing for Elijah in these moments because this miracle him waking up to food prepared for him and water They're, I feel like what God is doing is reminding him, what we read in First Kings 17. God's taking him on a trip down memory lane to the very first time that God came through for him. Elijah is on the run, and God makes sure that he has food and water. It's the very first thing that God did for him. And then here we are, again, years later down the road. And Elijah is given food in water and comfort by God; I think what God is doing is saying, Hey, you're waking up to fresh food and fresh water. Remember, this isn't the first time this happened. Remember how I provided for you back then. And remember the oil. Remember the fire? Remember the food? I didn't forget about you, then in there, I'm not going to forget about you here now.

What makes you think I'm suddenly going to fail you or makes you suddenly think that there aren't going to be any apples left? What makes you suddenly think that the cupboards are going to be bare? What makes you suddenly think that I'm going to forget about you, and I'm going to fail you? I never have, I never will. I didn't fail you then in there, and I won't forget about you here. And now. God has never failed. God never failed Elijah's Cornerstone. God never failed us. God has never failed us. We have never experienced failure. Because God has been with us, he has provided for us every step of the way. And if he's provided for us, then in there, he's gonna do it here now. He's gonna come through for us again. So as we step into this campaign, as we step into building this facility, and we all have these questions, and more man, but I mean, that's one of the biggest questions I get, what if we don't have enough money to finish the building? But what happens if this happens? Well, what if all of these questions wondering about the provision? What if God doesn't give? What if God doesn't mean? What if we try our hardest, and God doesn't come that last bit? He didn't forget us then in there, and he will not forget us here. Now. He won't do it. He won't do it. We have seen God move. We believe it. As a church, we believe this. You want to know how much we believe this, we are starting a $2 million building campaign in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. Come on, like who? Who does that unless you believe God will provide? That's the only reason we do this is because we're like, you know, what? If we walk steps from favor and act like no one else is coming, we put it on us and say, hey, it's just me. And God, if we truly do that, we know the God who provided ravens, the guy who provided oil, the God who ground fire, the guy who provided food he's going to provide for us, so he didn't suddenly stop. He didn't suddenly change. It's the same God, and He will give again, do you believe it? Do you believe that because I believe it, I believe God is going to do something, and he is going to provide for us in ways that we can't even begin to comprehend that we are going to look back and go, what I did not expect it to come from this source? I did not expect it to come from this source. I didn't expect it to be so personal the way that God met exactly what we needed. He's going to provide, and I can't wait to see what it looks like. Heavenly Father, we are so thankful that You are the provider, that you are the provider that there are so many false gods who have let us down the gods of money, of relationships, of the busyness of work of politics, the list goes on and on. And God, we have all put our faith in these false gods from time to time, and we have all ended up in the same place crying out and getting no response getting no provision. That's not the case with you. That is not the case with you, when we follow you, when we follow your plan, when we follow your purpose, we know you will provide for us it's not a question of, if you will, it's just when you will, how you will, but we know you will.
Because God, if you did not fail us then in there, you won't start here now. So that means we can trust you here and now and in all the here and now is to calm and all the futures that come we can trust you we can take those steps out of the favor that we are your sons and daughters. We can live like no one else is coming. We can give sacrificially. We can give until it hurts, knowing you will see us through lifting us. You will provide God that gives us the confidence to boldly step into the future you have in mind for us not just as a church, but as individuals that we can count on you to provide because you've done it before, and you'll do it again. We love you, Father. We pray all of this in your name, amen.