I started a new Bible study in April called “Elijah” by Priscilla Shirer. Priscilla’s my girl, for real ya’ll. But truthfully, this is the first Bible study I have of hers – anyway, beside the point. Here is the point: Morning by morning I have met with God intimately because of the teachings that are on these pages. We’re only in the first few verses of Elijah’s life, 1 Kings 17:1 if you’d like to take a gander, and I know God put this study in front of me right at this specific time.
This morning in particular as I’m studying, freshly working from home, quit my dream job that I created through years of blood, sweat and tears… no biggy.. But here’s the verses that are repeating over and over and over in my head as I am trying to muster the true words of why I left my job, my passion, my security, my paycheck, my insurance, my kids…
1 Kings 17:2
1 Kings 17:8
1 Kings 18:1
Then…
1 Kings 17:5
1 Kings 17:10
1 Kings 18:2
I encourage you to open your Bible or another tab on your phone and read those specific verses. But if you want to be a cheater cheater pumpkin eater, I’ll tell you.
“Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah”
“Then the word of the Lord came to him.”
“After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah.”
“So he did what the Lord had told him.”
“So he went…”
“So Elijah went…”
If you read through these verses, you’ll notice that these places that God sent Elijah weren’t flourishing with fruits and veggies, no milk and honey; in fact it was more of a dried up creek where a bird had to bring him food to survive and then to a widow’s home that was literally preparing her last meal before she and her family all starve and die. Elijah wasn’t saying, “yes God” to the good stuff; he was saying, “yes God” no matter what kind of stuff. It didn’t matter. Why? Because He is God and He is faithful.
A little over 3 years ago I wrote a blog post explaining why I was leaving Saintsations, a truly amazing experience for me. It was a very hard and sad time and I really had hoped for one more year, but God kept tugging at my heart to step away. At the end of the post I shared that I truly believed God was guiding me into a new transition in life, one that I had hoped and prayed was marriage. A month later I went on my last first date with the incredible man I now call my husband. I truly believe that faithful obedience leads to new blessings. God placed Elijah in positions that allowed him to see His faithfulness and provision. I have seen this same faithfulness and provision throughout my life, and I know He is faithful to do it again.
Why am I telling you this and what does it have to do with an old prophet, dried up creek and job security? It’s really pretty simple.
I left my job because God told me to.
Initially, we won’t be financially secure, I don’t know how we’re going to afford new insurance, I’m not sure how to start my own writing business even though that’s the dream, and I really just.. I don’t know.
What I do know is…
The word of the Lord came, and so he went.
