God's Place for You - I Kings 17:1-16

by Rohn Sat Nov 09, 2013 11:54 pm

GOD’S PLACE FOR YOU
I Kings 17:1-16
Text - I Kings 17:2-4, 9-10

(1 Kings 17:2-4) And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. (KJV)

(1 Kings 17:9-10) Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. (KJV)

I. GOD’S DESIGNATED PLACE.
Elijah is called the “prophet of fire” and also the “prophet of miracles”. The reason that Elijah could pray fire down and the reason that so many miracles were done through him or for him was because he was there. He was in the place God wanted him to be.

I don’t believe that the ravens would have fed Elijah anywhere else except in the place that God told him to be. He had God’s protection and was fed by the ravens only because he heard God’s voice and obeyed and was in the place where God told him to hide.
Again, I don’t believe that Elijah would have been fed or that the miracle of the meal barrel never running out would have happened if Elijah would have been anywhere else. It was because he was there that God supplied his need and preformed these miracles.
God didn’t say, “Go where you want and do as you please, and I will supply your need. But He said, Get thee hence,… hide thyself by the brook… I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.”

Again He said to Elijah, “Arise go to Zarephath – and dwell there – I have commanded a widow to sustain thee.”

There, was the place of God’s purpose for Elijah. God has a there – a place or a purpose for every one of us. It is a place where He has something for you to do and something He wants you to be. You can never be truly happy outside the place God wants you to be nor can you please God without being there.

Some people do some great things and make a success as far as this world is concerned but unless they are there as far as God is concerned they are never fulfilling their purpose nor are they truly happy. I can’t help but believe that Elijah was a happy satisfied man. He didn’t have all the fancy food we have today. The ravens fed him. I don’t know what they brought but he lived on it. I don’t suppose the little cake that the widow fed him would be considered fancy food but it was what he needed and I believe he was happy. He was in the place God had provided for him. Even though Ahab was angry at him and was looking all over the land to find him yet he was right in the place designated as “there” by God and I believe he was happy to be “there.”

Many people are defeated by their seeming success. They aren’t in the place God wanted them to be so consequently they can’t succeed there. They may have a measure of success as far as how people view them but it is a defeated success as far as God’s best is concerned.

II. LOOK AT THE PLACE CALLED “THERE.”
“There” is a place of blessing. It is a place where we have the blessing of God.

Joseph left Bethel and went to Shalem and it was that while there he got into difficulty. And we read that God commanded him:
(Genesis 35:1) And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, …. (KJV)

Bethel is a symbol of the land of blessing. God told him to go where God could bless him.

Sometimes we go “back to Bethel” during a revival meeting. The Lord points out where we should be. The place of prayer and devotions. The place of putting the Lord first in our lives. Bethel isn’t necessarily the place of emotional blessing but it is the place where we are there to meet God. It is the place of God’s will for us.

In Acts 13:36 we read that David served his generation by the will of God. He was there in the will of God.

Epaphras prayed that the saints might stand perfect and complete in the will of God. (Colossians 4:12). In other words he prayed that they might be “there” doing God’s will and living where God wants them to live.

Jesus said:
(John 17:4) I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. (KJV)

He could say that because He was “there.” He was in the place of purpose and the place of duty and the place of blessing.

Your place is the place where the Lord shows you that you should be. Not as much a place in terms of cities or counties or geographical locations as in terms of your spiritual state.

Our place of blessing and our place of usefulness is hinged on being “there” as far as our spiritual state is concerned.
Someone said that there are too many eagles setting on humming bird’s nests and all they do is set while the little humming bird is out gathering the sweetness and the blessings.

The place of blessing is the place of divine appointment. We read in Matthew 28:16 that the disciples went up into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

They would have never received the Great Commission if they had not been where Jesus told them to be.

(Matthew 28:19-20) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (KJV)

And we never feel the pull to do or to be what God wants us to be unless we are in the place spiritually where we should be.

III. THE PLACE WHERE ELIJAH WAS, WAS A PLACE OF GOD’S POWER.
The miracles that happened would not have happened anywhere but “there.” The place God told him to go. People sometimes wonder why they don’t feel God’s power or see the evidence of God’s working but yet they aren’t in the place where God has shown them they should live.

They are out of His purpose – out of His will. We say what power Elijah had but it wasn’t Elijah’s power. It was Elijah’s God using him because he was where God wanted him to be.

Elijah’s God still lives today and answers in the self-same way.

There is a place of power.
When we are in the place of God’s purpose we have God’s power to back us.

George Muller was a great man of faith and prayer but the answers came because he was in God’s place of purpose.

You say, “What is God’s purpose for me?”

I don’t know just what God has planed for you but I do know some things.

His place for you is to have a real Christian home.

His will for you is to raise your children to love Him and serve Him and pattern their lives after His will.

His plan for you is to dedicate your life to Him and tell you where He wants to make improvements in your life. Let Him show you where your service for Him is to be most effective.

Line your life up to His will and His way and you can experience His power and blessing in your life.
Hudson Taylor once said that he at one time thought God was looking for strong men to use but later he realized that God was looking for men that were little enough to be used of God.

When God uses us He supplies the power.

The little boy with five loaves and two fishes (John 6:5-14) didn’t know that he had enough lunch with him to feed 5.000 people until Jesus took it, broke it, blessed it and passed it around.

It is only when we are in the place of God’s purpose that we are in the place of God’s power.

Sampson was a great man and a strong man but when he got out of the will of the Lord he lost his power. He broke his vows to God. He went with the world. He wasn’t there where God wanted him to be.

IV. THEN WE FIND THAT “THERE” IS THE PLACE OF GOD’S PROVISION FOR US.
There is no place just as good as God’s best place for us.

No matter how much argue or excuse our position, we are never used as much by God or are as happy as we could be if we are not in the place where God tells us we should be in. There is a place of provision for us.

“Where God guides He always provides.”

God said to Elijah, “I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.” “I have commanded the widow woman to feed thee there.”

And Elijah went where God directed him to go.

Now I believe it was more than just going to a certain place and expecting God to take care of him. I believe it was a complete surrender to the entire will of God.

Elijah took his stand against king Ahab.
He told the king that God was displeased with his idolatry and sin.
Elijah lived so that the king and everyone else knew who his God was.
And as he did this God provided.

Often people say (at least to themselves), “I can’t do what the Lord requires me to do.” But if we will determine to be where and do what the Lord wants us to do He will provide the grace and the strength to do it.

V. BUT WE HAVE TO BE “THERE.”
God has made provision even for that. If we want to be what God wants us to be we can through the Blood that Jesus shed on Calvary.

He calls us to the place where he wants us.

Peter and Andrew and John were fishermen and the Lord called them to be fishers of men.

I don’t believe they did much except follow Jesus until after Pentecost. But after that they were equipped and provided with all they needed to be where God wanted them to be.
No one ever failed who was honest with God.

Are you in the place designated for you? Have you taken advantage of the provision and power of God to make your life what it should be?

“The Blood that Jesus once shed for me as my Redeemer upon the tree.
The blood that setteth the prisoner free shall never lose its power.”

Joseph was a stranger in the vile land of Egypt, but God wanted him there to save His people (Genesis 40-48)

Esther was a queen in a land that hated the Jews, but God wanted her there to save her people.

Daniel was thrown in a den of hungry lions, but God wanted him there for a testimony.

Jonah was in a watery grave inside a great fish, but God wanted him there to learn a lesson.

Paul and Silas lay in prison, but God wanted them there to lead a soul to God.

Peter, too, lay in prison, but God wanted him there to show his power in answering prayer.

John was exiled on the isle Patmos, but God wanted him there to write Christ’s Revelation.

Why does God want you where you are at this moment?