ON THE VANGUARD

RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME
“So [Elijah] did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there.”
I Kings 17:5

Have you ever found yourself in the right place and at the right time? Maybe you were standing in line one day and became the lucky one hundredth customer, therefore receiving the prize of a year’s supply of free product. Perhaps you were fortunate enough to be the lucky recipient of a parking spot near the front on a day when the parking lot was overly full and you were sure you would have to walk from the back. Or maybe you just so happened to be walking and found a $10 bill on the floor. Whatever it was, and wherever you were, at that exact moment you just so happened to be in the right place at the right time. For many who experience this, it could just be luck. Yet for others it may come as a result of listening to God’s voice and being obedient, no matter how crazy it may sound.
When the army of Israel marched on Jericho under Joshua’s command, the order to march once for six days, quietly, may have seemed a little bazaar. Yet they just so happened to be in the right place at the right time on day seven, following God’s orders, when they received the victory over the city. And the same is true of Gideon. Taking an army of only three hundred, and being told to stand still, they obeyed God and also received His blessing for being in the right place at the right time. In both these instances, and so many more found in the Bible, obedience to God paid off. This should serve as a reminder to us to obey God.
Even though I understand the concept of obeying God and the pay off for doing so, I was once again enlightened last night as my children and I read our nightly devotional. We read the account of Elijah as he was fed by the ravens in I Kings 17:1-9. The account starts out with Elijah going before King Ahab and declaring that God was going to shut off the skies, allowing no rain or dew to be found for the next few years. From here, God told Elijah to go to the Kerith Ravine. In obedience, Elijah went. The ravine served to quench Elijah’s thirst, but what about his hunger? God had this taken care of also as He provided ravens to come twice daily with bread and meat for the prophet. When the ravine dried up due to the lack of rain as prophesied, God spoke to Elijah again and commanded him to go to Zarephath.
In reading this account, the obvious details are remembered as I think back to the display of this story on the flannel board in Sunday School. But God showed me something deeper last night. How many times do we move out and expect God to bless our move as opposed to waiting on Him to tell us where to move? We read in I Kings 17:5 that Elijah did what the LORD had told him. Elijah went to the Kerith Ravine. He didn’t go to another city and expect God to still take care of him but rather went to the exact place God told him to go. This begs the question of whether or not God would have still taken care of him had he gone to another ravine, another city, or another hiding place apart from God’s direction. The blessing of food and water that God told Elijah about was waiting for him at this exact spot. It wasn’t at another place.
So bluntly, let me ask you. Are you where God has told you to be? Are you at His commanded Kerith Ravine, or are you at another ravine still waiting for this promise to come to pass? The blessing comes when we are in the right place at the right time. So are you? And deeper still, are you obeying His voice regardless of how crazy His request may sound? I am asking myself these same questions more and more recently, and maybe for good reason. I too have heard God’s voice in the past and refused to obey, yet sit around wondering why I am not seeing His hand of blessing. Is it really any wonder why, now? Deuteronomy 11:26-28 tells us that God places before us the decision of life and death. Life comes in obedience to His ways while death comes as a result of our disobedience. Which one we choose is in our hands. Which then will we choose?