GOD SENT RAVENS TO ELIJAH,
AND A CAREER TO CAROLYN
At the
outskirts of Las Vegas there used to be a petting zoo and restaurant by a large
duck pond, on a property called Bonnie Springs. It was a throwback to the ’50s,
cozy and delightful. For many years they took in injured animals and birds and
cared for them. We liked to go out there to see an old raven. The guests from
the restaurant often feed him soda crackers through the holes in his large pen.
We watched. When
the raven had all the cracker pieces neatly organized in his beak, he hopped
down to the bottom of his enclosure and placed the neat stack to one side. He
dug a shallow hole with his whiskered beak, put two pieces in the hole and
raked some dirt over it, so there was no sign of cracker at all—only earth. He
took the remaining portions in his beak.
Clippity-clop
hopping in raven fashion to the other side of his bird coop, he dug another
hole and buried the rest of the crackers. I was in awe. Finally, I understood
the record in 1 Kings 17 about Elijah being fed by the ravens: The raven had
already buried some food; it was just waiting for the time when God wanted it
brought out to Elijah.
“And the word
of the Lord came unto him [Elijah], saying, Get thee hence, and hide thyself by
the brook. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have
commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according unto the
word of the Lord, and the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning,
and bread and flesh in the evening” (1 Kings 17:3-6).
Elijah’s
circumstances were not ideal, and the bread and meat were probably not kosher,
but Elijah was thankful. God’s provision for him had been totally unpredictable
and definitely unique.
Proverbs 3:5-6
says to: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
We need to trust that the
Lord loves us and will provide for us even though our paths may be rocky at
times. If we look to the Lord Jesus to guide us through, it will work out
better than we could possibly imagine.
When
circumstances or decisions are hard, we can remember Isaiah 43:19: “I will even
make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”
We learn to
expect the unpredictable and unique when it comes to God watching over us. When
we keep our eyes on Jesus as it says in Hebrews 12:2, “looking unto Jesus, the
author and finisher of our faith,” He will always have things set up for us to
get to the other side and to the good results He has for us.
When I got
ready to write my first book, I had no idea how to get started. The Lord was
way ahead of me.
Wendy, one of
my closest friends, was publishing online for her job, so she was able to help
me. My other friend, Maarit, was an excellent editor and that was no
coincidence, either. God already had my girl ravens set up to bless me, and I
blessed them too. When I decided to start an art career I “happened” to go into
a place in Kansas City to buy a drawing pencil; I came out with a job to
fabricate sculptural molds for the bronze foundry and art gallery!
When I moved from
Missouri to Northern California and interviewed for a secretarial job, I ended
up telling the woman I would prefer working in the arts. She gave me a client’s
number, and the first thing my new boss asked was if I knew how to make a mold
for a sculptural piece. That started my ongoing career in the arts. Again, no
coincidence, but God was preparing ahead of time just for me, and I never saw
it coming.
If we continue
in our hearts to want to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, He will never, never let
us down.
The ravens are
out there burying your crackers and steak right now.
God’s got a
great future for us. Let’s be courageous and not be afraid of the unusual or
unique ways God has to bless us.
Love, Carolyn
QUESTIONS AND EASY
CHALLENGES
1. Can you cite another
passage of scripture (besides the one with Elijah) where God supplied an answer
from an unusual source?
2. Recall and briefly
describe a situation where God had already set up your “ravens.”
3. Where in the Bible is
the story of Elijah found?
GREAT SHORT STORIES FOR
SUMMER READING:
USER-FRIENDLY
BIBLE PRINCIPLES FOR EVERYDAY LIVING: real-life stories of how GOD works to make ordinary
life extraordinary.
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