King Ahab and Jezebel were the worst. They made God angrier than anyone else before them. While they spent their time worshipping Baal, Elijah had been standing before the Lord to listen. The state sponsored religion of Baal worship had taken a dark grip over the people’s minds and their nation. It is amazing what people can’t see when everyone else is doing it. Elijah was sent by God to confront the king and prophesied there would be no more rain except by his word.

During the drought God provided for Elijah by feeding him with bread carried by ravens and by drinking from the brook Cherith.

Now ravens are not that reliable. The book of Proverbs says they won’t even feed their young, let alone give scarce food to a prophet, so we can imagine that Elijah hoped they would come before they ate the food themselves.  Perhaps he prayed a lot, but after three months of faithful delivery by the birds, he grew a little more relaxed and only prayed for a while before breakfast down by river.  After seven months Elijah was really confident, so he’d wander out of the shade, looking for the birds, right on tea and breakfast time.

About that time, he just noticed that the water level in the brook was dropping so he began to pray a bit more. As the brook continued to dry up over the days to just a trickle, he may have begun to seek God in earnest. We all do that don’t we? Perhaps Elijah got used to Gods provision and began to take it for granted. Maybe he was beginning to trust in the ravens reliability rather than Gods faithfulness.  Perhaps he needed circumstances that would position his heart in readiness for the word of the Lord? God’s new direction came.

In new situations we can’t rely on ourselves anymore; we are out of our depth and have no pat answers; we need the Holy Ghost. But great things can begin to happen. Changes in our life, develops the fear of the Lord.  We draw closer to God and are desperate for Him to turn up in our life.

Friend, is God using changes in your circumstance to get your attention and to position you to hear His voice afresh? Are your circumstances only dry and unsustainable because God is setting you up to encounter you, or take you to a new place of service, or a new level of supernatural supply? If your brook is drying up - look up and listen.