The Power of Obedience
You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there. So he did what the LORD had told him. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. (I Kings 17:4-6)
For several weeks, we had been batting about the lessons we had learned at the most recent CBMC Family Camp. Our Bible teacher, Maj. Ian Thomas taught a beautiful picture of faithful obedience from 1 Kings 17, when Elijah first came on the scene. Each time the word of the Lord came to Elijah asking him to do some thing, Elijah faithfully “went and did according to the word of the Lord.”
God sent Elijah to a widow who was struggling to feed her son during the awful three year famine that Elijah had pronounced upon the land. When Elijah came to her, he asked her for some bread and water, which she would be hard-pressed to supply. She explained that she had only a handful of flour and a little oil left in the jar, and was planning to prepare it for herself and her son, so that they could “eat it and die.”
Then Elijah did a remarkable thing. He asked to her go ahead and feed him first, and if she did, her jar of oil and barrel of flour would never be empty until the Lord sent rain on the face of the earth. So she “went and did according to the word of Elijah” and sure enough she never ran out of food, according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had pronounced.
Maj. Thomas began his discourse on the power of an obedient life by informing us that “If you’re told what to do (by God) and do as you’re told, even the ravens will feed you.” In other words, when we do what God says, He provides. The participants of the camp had fun trying to quote the motto back and forth to one another. At camp, it was easy to believe in miracles.
Coming home was always a challenge to carry forth the great things we’d learned at camp. Since our coffers were thin much of the time, we were greatly impacted by this teaching. Upon returning home, when challenging events continued to occur, my husband, the consummate cheerleader, would often quote this motto to me -- “If you’re told what to do, and do as you’re told, even the ravens will feed you” -- and, he would add, “I’m an obedient sucker!” He truly was doing all he knew to do to support his family, but the pantry was getting thinner and thinner.
I being the consummate “stuffer” had stopped complaining about how low our food supply was, and one night it felt as if everything came to a screeching halt. Our Sunday School class was having its desert party at our house, which meant I supplied the house and they the goodies. I literally had nothing to feed the kids that night, but was anticipating the snacks that were coming.
Not long before the guests were to arrive, my husband came home and upon opening the refrigerator he noticed it was decidedly empty. “Whatcha feeding the kids?” he asked casually.
“Nothing,” I replied, as he went to the pantry to find it truly bare. Panic rose in his voice and face as he realized the situation.
“Why aren’t there any groceries?” he said going back to the freezer, knowing full well the money had run out. “I’ll go out and rob a bank if I have to!”
“Let them eat cake.” I replied with very little tongue-in-cheek. Then I quickly assured him that the kids could eat the cheese and crackers and fruits that were coming before I let them eat the cake. Food was on its way.
Before you judge me harshly, I had been trying to tell my husband for awhile of our impending shortage, but not only was he distracted, he had heard it all before. He seemingly had tuned me out. Besides we had been invited to a CBMC luncheon the next day and I knew we would be okay for one more day. And we did have over $25.00 in our checking account.
Sitting in church always feels safe, so we went about our Sunday morning routine, having eaten the leftovers for breakfast. When the offering plate at church came around my husband took out the checkbook and looked questioningly at me. I knew what he was about to do, and I totally approved. It was literally the last of our barrel. I felt much like the widow from the Elijah story - it wouldn’t make much difference anyway. So breathing a prayer, my husband laid his offering of twenty-six dollars and fifty cents in the plate.
Looking back, I realize how depressed I truly was during this time period. Much of the time I was just numb. At home while changing clothes for our lunch engagement, Stan found a quarter in his shorts and pulled it out saying, “Look, Laura, it’s already started.” Going to the car to scour for change for the toll booth, he came back truly excited, with four more quarters in his hand.
“It’s already multiplied 400%!” he exclaimed. “If you do what you’re told. . .”
“I know,” I interrupted, “even the ravens will feed you.” I thought he was having much too much fun for our dire circumstances. But his attitude no matter how real or contrived was contagious. Deciding not to take the toll, instead he laid the $1.25 in change on top of our sideboard so it could “mate and multiply while we were gone,” so he said.
We all hopped in the car and began the long drive to our destination, where we would be fed in return for serving on a family camp committee. We followed the directions down the side of the toll road, off onto the side roads and turned into the village until we came to a stop light.
“What street do we turn on?” Stan asked, interrupting my daze. “You have the directions. Do I turn here?” I looked up at the large green sign hanging over the cross street and down at the directions. It took a second or two to answer.
“Yes, it says to turn right on Ravensway Blvd.” and then I asked, “Is this some kind of joke?” But there it was, the biggest, greenest street sign I had ever seen. And just in case, we missed the joke, the directions continued to guide us past “Ravens Caw,” Ravens Nest,” Ravens Pass.” Well, you get the picture.
We arrived at our destination and I gave the kids their last minute admonitions to be polite, say “thank you,” punctuated with the tag “Be sure to go back for seconds!” We walked up to the door, rang the bell, and were greeted by our host who, I kid you not, had the blackest hair and beakish nose which gave him the unmistakable appearance of a raven.
Inwardly, I chuckled for the first time in a while, “So, Lord, these are the ravens who will feed us? Bless them.”
It was a wonderful day, and even though no one could know of our inward fears, I felt relieved by nice friends and good food. Going home everyone settled into our warm car with full stomachs for the ride home. Stan laid between us a small book given to him by his friend, Bruce Witt. Stan had shared with him during the day of our morning’s struggle. The book was called, Let Go, by Fenelon. “If we let go, we’ll drown,” I thought spontaneously and I began to flip through the book. As I did, money just spilled into my lap - $120.00 in cash.
“What did you do?” I asked, “Ask him for money?” How sad that the only emotion I felt in that instant was embarrassment. But looking at Stan I could see his answer. Tears were streaming down his face as he shook his head from side to side, mouthing the words “no” he did not.
“You don’t know how hard it was,” he said finally gaining his composure, “for me to put that money in the offering plate today. It was like taking food out of my kids’ mouths.”
We were at the beginning of a remarkable time of experiencing God’s grace, of getting to know God as Father in very personal and practical ways. The words of the motto from camp weren’t simply catchy, they were true. An alarm bell in heaven went off that morning when Stan offered God the “last of our barrel.” God knew of our dilemma and moved on our behalf. I believe it became very personal to God when we put the full weight of our trust on Him. Because my husband had planted the smallest seed in faith, God came in and took over.
By the end of the next week, Stan received a raise from his part-time employer which was initially paid to him in the form of a check for $1200.00. A week after that we received an unexpected refund from an insurance company for double that amount. Does God have a sense of humor? Probably, but these provisions weren’t a whim of God. They lined up with a law of God, that says the just shall live by faith, and whatever a person sows that is what they reap.
The Lesson: If you do what you’re told, and you’re told what to do by God, even the ravens will feed you. (who can improve on that?)
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