Bounty Land

“Then a revelation from the Lord came to him: “Leave here, turn eastward, and hide yourself at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. You are to drink from the wadi. I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there’” (1 Kings 17:3-4).

God loves patterns. There are many times throughout Scripture when we see someone go into the wilderness, particularly the desert. The desert represents seasons of hardship or trials, and we can all say that nothing tests our faith like a desert season.

God tells Elijah to go into the desert. Elijah has prophesied that there would be no rain because of the people’s sin, so they are already in a season of drought. But then God calls Elijah into the desert land alone.

We despise these seasons where it feels like there is no rain—where it seems there’s no blessing and we fear the future. God allows these seasons in our lives to teach us that He’s the comfort in the middle of our nowhere.

God calls Elijah into the desert to show him that He would sustain him in the most unlikely of places. The Father is more intentional than we often realize. Take this for example: God tells Elijah that He will send the ravens to provide for him. Ravens by nature are not friendly; they’re not loving. Ravens don’t care for their young. They scavenge and fight over food, and they don’t share. However, they can fly for a 100 miles without stopping—they’re strong for their size.

The Lord chooses an unlikely animal to care for Elijah in the wilderness. He changes the nature of a bird that’s selfish and makes it selfless. In the middle of a land that has nothing—no produce, no bread, no meat—God sends the ravens to a land of bounty to collect and then sends them to Elijah in a land of barrenness.

We serve a God who does not let us go hungry in a barren land. He brings provision. He sustains us in the least likely of places, often in the least likely of ways. He brings ravens to the desert. When He brings us to barren places and we’re weary, we’re tired, we’re running out of effort just to make it another day, our only hope is Jesus.

If He can save your soul from hell, He can take care of your finances. He can cure your sickness. He can repair that relationship. He’ll pour out that blessing when you least expect it because no one expects to find abundance in a desert. But God gives abundantly in the middle of barrenness because He’s the only one who can.
You’ll never be cared for in the desert by any other means the way that God will care for you. His provision is perfect. He didn’t call you into the desert to watch you struggle. He called you to the desert to show you His bounty in a place of burden.