2009 – Day 154.June 4 – The Brook Has Dried Up

2009 – Day 154.June 4 – The Brook Has Dried Up

Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 5 – 7 … 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him [Elijah], saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

My Journal for Today: Has your brook dried up? It had for Elijah. Here God had led Elijah to this lush oasis in the wilderness where he was protected and provided for; but in time the spring providing him with water dried up. And so it is with some of us.

Perhaps you’re a new mom and the joy of a new child has dried up and is covered with poopy diapers, baby feedings, and a perpetually crying babe. Maybe you’re a family leader whose bank account is drying up. Swindoll relates the great story of John Bunyan, the famous Christian author, who was jailed for preaching against the godlessness of the establishment in his day; and while in prison where his brook had dried up, he was inspired to write Pilgrim’s Progress, the timeless allegory which has touched the life of generations of Christian readers.

And right now – at this very moment in my quiet time with God this morning – my Ipod has given me the song I’m listening to right now and one which I hear almost daily in my morning, sitting by a brook of life which seems to be drying up all around me. The song is sung by the beautiful voice of Alisha Dishong, … the old hymn, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. She sings to me …

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

Yes, the brook of our culture seems to dwindling; and more and more we cannot draw water from this world. So, what do we Christians do in this world which dwindles of Christian sustenance? Well the reality of that old Christian hymn rings true. What we do is turn – and keep – our eyes on Jesus, because as Swindoll points out, our dwindling brook of Christian values in this world “does not cancel out God’s providential plan.” And Swindoll is right, as evidenced by what happened to John Bunyan or to Elijah.

When the waters that we thirst for are drying up, we need to get ready for God to provide exactly what we need in and through His truth – i.e., His word – and through life as well. John Bunyan was inspired by prison to write his famous Christian allegory. Elijah, by the brook drying up, was being prepared to prophesy to God’s people. And we’ll be reading in subsequent devotionals about the power that came from Elijah holding on to faith in the midst of the brook drying up.

When things get really dry and we turn our eyes on Jesus, rather than our circumstances, God is likely trying to show us that the things of this earth " … will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” So, take heart, my fellow Christian. The brook may be drying up; but God will provide.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, take me from the dwindling brook of this life; and show me the sustaining grace of your living waters. Amen