26 June

Corrie Ten Boom

‘When I was a little girl, I went to my father and said, “Daddy, I was afraid that I will never be strong enough to be a martyr for Jesus Christ.” “Tell me,” said father, “When you take a train trip to Amsterdam, when do I give you the money for the ticket? Three weeks before?” “No, daddy, you give me the money for the ticket just before we get on the train.” “That is right,” my father said, “And so it is with God’s strength. Our Father in heaven knows when you will need the strength to be a martyr for Jesus Christ. He will supply all you need just in time.”’

You, who have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you, should expect no less. You are ‘led by the Spirit of God’ (Romans 8:14). The Holy Spirit will provide you with all the guidance you need.

God will also satisfy your spiritual thirst: ‘He split the rocks in the desert and gave them water as abundant as the seas; he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers’ (Psalm 78:15–16). Jesus promises you that, through the Holy Spirit, streams of living water will flow from within you (John 7:38).

Elijah’s prayer resulted in problems for Elijah himself. However, God provided for all his material needs. Initially, ‘The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook’ (1 Kings 17:6). God can be very creative in providing for you. Your part is to obey him and then trust that he will provide for all your needs.

The widow was put to the test. Elijah asks for food. She tells him that she and her son were about to eat their last meal and then die. Elijah promises that if she is generous with what she has, God will provide for all her needs. He says to her, ‘The jar of flour will not run out and the bottle of oil will not become empty before God sends rain on the land and ends this drought’ (v.14, MSG).