While Israel was experiencing a spiritual drought due to their Baal worship, God allowed a literal drought to fall upon the land as well. This drought affected everyone, including God’s prophet, Elijah. 

The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 1 Kings 17:6-9 NKJV

Image © Stan Myers

God has an interesting way of providing for His prophet during this time. First, ravens are scavengers. They are not known for sharing food, but in this story they become quite generous.

Then God sends Elijah to a widow. Widows can be very generous when it comes to giving to missions. Jesus noticed a widow in Luke 21:1-4 giving all she had. Still, most people in charge of fundraising look to the rich for provisions, and not to poor widows. 

I believe that in the last days, while many are trusting (even schmoozing up to?) rich people, God is going to provide for His people by using very unlikely and humble sources. I believe that the widow was not Plan B. God did not send Elijah to the widow because the brook dried up. The brook dried up so Elijah would go to the widow. Sometimes God has to close one door so he can get us to open a new door. 

So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.”  And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” So she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.’ ” So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah. 1 Kings 17:10-16.

Here we have another unlikely scenario. Who goes to a poor widow who is about to starve to death and says, “Feed me first?” But that is exactly what Elijah did. I have heard many people, even church members in good standing, tell people, “If you don’t have the money to tithe, God understands,” or “If you are going through a hard time right now, God does not expect you to give anything.” But the story of Elijah and the widow contradicts such notions. The widow was going through a very hard time, even about to starve to death, and God still expected her to give to His prophet first. Anything less would be a lack of faith, and the just shall live by faith. (see Romans 1:17). Without faith we cannot please God. (See Hebrews 11:6). So the widow had to give first in order to have the faith to live, as well as to please God. While tough times made it appear as though she could not give first and survive, the truth was she had to give first in order to survive. The poor widow was able to feed her household for many days, and the jar never ran dry during the tough times because she gave first. 

So today, even in tough times when it looks like you can’t afford to return your tithes and offerings, the fact is you can not afford to not return your tithes and offerings first. During the tough times in Elijah’s day, God used miracles and some very unlikely means to provide for His people. So today, even in tough times God is working miracles to provide for those who give first to Him.

Amen!(1)

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/during-tough-times-you-cant-afford-not-to-return-your-tithe/

Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and this quarter’s author, G. Edward Reid, as they provide additional insights into this Quarter’s Sabbath School lessons, “Managing for the Master, Till He Comes”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCA8vO8npnM&w=560&h=315]

Amen!(0)

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/11-managing-in-tough-times-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/

You can view an in-depth discussion of Managing in Tough Times in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. Click on the image to view: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx8Av6XG6Qs&w=560&h=315]

With thanks to

Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/11-managing-in-tough-times-hopess-video-discussion/

The Bible paints a painful picture of the world before the second coming of Jesus. Daniel talks about “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time” (Daniel 12:1, NKJV). Considering some of the troublous times in the past, what he is referring to here must be pretty bad.

The book of Revelation also points to troubling times before the return of Christ.

Read Revelation 13:11-17. How do financial matters fit in with the end-time persecution?

Image © Phil McKay

You can’t buy or sell? How much of our lives today revolves around buying and selling? Our work is, in a sense, our selling of our time and skills and goods to those who want to buy them. Not being able to buy or sell all but means not being able to function in society. The pressure on those who remain faithful will then be enormous. Plus, the more money that you have, the more stake you will have in this world, at least in terms of material possessions, and so, surely, the pressure to conform will be even stronger.

How then do we prepare? We prepare now, by making sure through God’s grace that we are not slaves to our money, to the things of the world. If we are not bound to them now, we won’t be when we will, in order to be faithful, have to give them up.

Read Deuteronomy 14:22-23 and the last part of verse 23. What were God’s people to do with their increase or production each year? Why did God ask them to do this?

God explained through Moses that one of the reasons He established the tithing system was “that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always” (Deuteronomy 14:23, NKJV). In the poetic parallelism of Psalm 31:19, we see that fear is synonymous with trust.

“Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who trust in You” (NKJV).

These parallel lines show us that to fear the Lord is to trust Him. Therefore, we understand that God established the tithing system to protect us from selfishness and to encourage us to trust Him to provide for us. While being faithful in tithe is certainly not a guarantee that people will stay faithful in the end, those who are not faithful in tithe are surely setting themselves up for trouble.

<–Wednesday Friday–>

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The parables and teachings of Jesus, the stories of Bible characters, and the counsel of Ellen G. White all indicate clearly that there is no halfway commitment to Christ. Either we are or we are not on the Lord’s side.

When asked by a scribe which commandment was the greatest, Jesus answered, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30, NKJV). When we give all to Christ, there is nothing left for another master. That is the way it is. That is the way it must be.

Read Matthew 6:24. What has been your own experience with the truth of these words?

Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com

Notice, Jesus didn’t say that it was hard to serve God and money, or that you needed to be careful in how you served both. He said, instead, that it couldn’t be done. Period. This thought should put a bit of fear and trembling in our souls (Philippians 2:12).

Read 1 John 2:15-17. How are these three things manifested in our world, and why is the danger they present sometimes more subtle than we realize?

No wonder Paul wrote, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). Of course, that’s easier said than done, because the things of the world are right here before us every day. The lure of “all that is in the world” is strong; the pull for immediate gratification is always there, whispering in our ears or pulling on our shirt sleeves, or both. Hasn’t even the most faithful Christian felt some love for “the things of the world”? Even with our knowledge that one day it will all end, we still feel the pull, don’t we? The good news, however, is that we don’t need to let it pull us away from the Lord.

<–Tuesday Thursday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/wednesday-priorities/