Encountering God's Provision, Part 1

God hates pride in the 80s when you feel like you can make it without Dr. Tony Evans talked about what it often takes to break that that will allow us to get it this week when we take a deep level of experience with him. This is the alternative Dr. Tony speaker Pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas Texas and president of the alternative, we say we believe that God provide Dr. Evans knows how easily we can start doubting that winter circumstances they can unexpected turn.

Today, he'll tell us the story of a lady who learned an important lesson about trust during trials was joining there was a building that was on fire and the man was trapped in the man of steel Superman with skin and grab this man in trouble of being consumed by the fire and out of as he began to fly and take command from the fire and go up into the sky. The man who had been delivered became very afraid it was being held in the arms of this man was taking him very, very high and he let Superman know I'm I'm scared.

That's when Superman said to him, what makes you think that I could deliver you from the five but can't hold on to you after I've set you free. If you know Jesus Christ you have been delivered from the fire.

If you hear today and you have been converted, by faith alone to Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life. He has delivered you from judgment you been delivered. But what makes you think that God delivered you from the fire can't take care of you. What makes you think that the God who took care of eternity can't take care of time series is divine encounters. What we're talking about is you having an experience with God and not merely knowledge about them through this series we will look for numbers of scenarios of people in Scripture various kinds of encounters with God that showed his power that showed his promises. Today I want you to experience an encounter with God and his provision in first Kings chapter 17 beginning in verse eight. This is what we read the word of the Lord came to him, that is Elijah saying arrive there which belongs to Sidon and stay there, behold, I have commanded a widow there by so your Rosalie with desire fast and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks called her and said please get me a little water in a job that I might drink that she was going to get it, he called her and said please give me a piece of bread in your hand, but she said, as the Lord your God lives. I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl in a little oil in the job.

Behold, I am gathering of sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die it.

Elijah said to her, do not fear. Go do as you have said, but make me a little red cake from it first, and bring it out to me and afterwards you may make one for yourself and for your son. For the sample Lord God of Israel the bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the job will be empty until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth, so she went and did according to the word of Elijah. She and he and her household ate for many days. The bowl following is not exhausted. The job will become empty. According to the word of the Lord which he spoke to rely here is one of the great stories in Scripture of God's provision. First of all why does God allow us to be in circumstances where it looks like not providing. I am certain that there are plenty of stories here where you have felt like God has let you down by leaving you out by not coming through.

When you wanted to when you need him to.

When you ask them to when you decided to look like when you in a hurry.

He's taking his and he is not satisfy the need for provision. There are a number of reasons why God allows his people to be in circumstances where provision is lacking in this particular chapter. It was because all of the sin of idolatry.

God made it clear that when you go after other gods you let those other gods take care when you abandoned me.

Deuteronomy 11 verses 16 and 17.

If you leave me for other gods, then I will close up the heavens and they will be no rain for an agricultural environment. Rain was critical in other words, don't call on my blessing when you worshiping another God let the competition take care of you.

So when we abandon God through our sin and our idolatry. We walk away from the provider. So one of the reasons why provision is absent is that we have moved away from the provider throughout syndrome idolatry and idleness in email person placed single thought that you go to an appeal to as your source. He says that the reason why Israel right now was dried up and there was a trial is because they had abandoned God for the idols of bail. So one reason why provision may be lacking is God has been abandoned which means you are now left to your own resources to provide for yourself because he's no longer appealed to respected and followed as your Jehovah job. That's one reason. But that's not the only reason. Another reason why God allows lack of provision in our lives in a multiple multiplicity of arenas areas of our lives is because he is trying to sting us didn't want me chapter 8 verses 1 to 3 God says you get home. I let you food, get low so that I might test your heart you get on a stress test at work that test your heart that you may think you're fine until you start taking the stress is on the stress their reading. Whether your heart is as fine as you feel, to one of the ways God let you know because he already knows whether you are spiritual as everybody else thinks you and as you declare yourself to be is to put you on a stress test to see how you will react under pressure so you can see you because you can't see your heart until is under stress because I let you go hungry, that I might test your heart.

In other words, are you is committed to me as you say you are in addition to kind of test goes on in that same president says and I did it to humble you and other words to get rid of some legal self-sufficiency. One of the reasons God will allow lack emotional, lack physical, lack financial lack lack one of the reasons God will allow lack is to strike a blow at our independence. God hates pride and he hates when you feel like you can make it without any to address independence from him. He will allow your contacts, not to come through the promotion not to come through.

He will allow just when you thought you had a saving for some else to break down any data he will allow lack to let you know that you are not self-sufficient that on your best.

They were my best day you and I are dependent Paul says in second Corinthians chapter 1 he says in verse eight and nine. He said we were undergoing a great deal of affliction.

We what we will be overwhelmed to the point of death. We were going to a great deal of affliction to the point of death, God, why did you let Paul to get that little what you believe and think you could live anymore. Then Paul says that we might learn to trust him who raises the dead.

He said he let us get low deep what it means to trust God at a point we couldn't fix. So God will allow us to get into circumstances, we can't fix even when we in his will, in order to take us to a deeper level of experience with him and deepen our faith, but see if you don't know that you just get mad at God. If you don't know that you're just getting frustrated at your circumstances. And so God does allow lack and in the case of idolatry even causes. And so that's the situation here we have a a prophet who is in a simple environment. The people of gone to idolatry and now we got a widow who just can eke out a living and only have enough flour for one more day. God tells Elijah go to this woman and she's going feature that should have enough to feed itself, but you go to this woman and she's going feature stay with me here if I could ever get this principle into my head. I know you hear me say a lot to say it again today and Uncle Sam number times the day because if you have a get it you like changes in the principle that you've heard a million times is you only have one source that is as simple as that sounds, it is a life transforming but you do not have multiple sources.

Dr. Evans will have more about the important difference between a source and a resource when he returns in a moment with more of today's lesson right now. I like to give you a chance to be among the first to get Tony's brand-new book kingdom encounters. It explores the unique ways you can move beyond just reading about God to actually experiencing him, especially when you feel alone, abandoned her when life seems to be closing in around you.

There's nothing like being fully connected to Christ and to help you reach that goal would like you to have this brand-new resource along with full-length CDs and instant digital downloads of all eight messages.

Tony's current teaching series divine encounters. Both of these powerful resources are yours, is our thank you gift when you make a contribution in support of Tony's ministry. We are completely listener supported ministry for your faithfulness is the only way we can keep bringing you this broadcast each day. As always, you can make all the arrangements@tonyevans.org or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222 that's 1-800-800-3222 with Dr. Evans will come back with more of today's lesson right after this God is granted all of us more power than we realize power to overcome hatred power to heal division power to unify others in love and power to impact our world for Christ. The way we access that power is through prayer. Discover how Dr. Tony a Vince new and timely book stronger together weaker apart powerful prayers to unite us in love, get your copy today at Tony heaven's.org or anywhere Christian books are so outside of God is a resource, not a source.

It's merely a vehicle. The grocery store is not just lost it's merely a resource you go to make the food they sell you the food source. It think it's a channel through which you get something. It's not the origination of the something you get over and over again. The Bible declares that God is your only source in Psalm 104 versus 10 the 17th, God says that animals only feed the birds only because our freedom and people only God requires your source. I am your starting point. So what's this when ever you treat a resource as though it is not source you have no major resource and I so for some people. Their job is that I or their bank account is that idle for contacts that I or the edge of meditation.

That's the item because they think because of this source I am taking care which that makes that resource, your God, because God was to be your only source until you establish that principle that you will always be controlled by the presence or absence of your resource because when you resource goes left, you, your boss goes left on you. Your the stock market goes left on you. Walk your friends go left on you.

You think you throw up your hand. What could you make that thing your source, God tells Elijah to go to a widow getting to campus self. So God had to prepare Elijah for this command and he prepares them back in verse four he says it shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you. There is a word provided again when when my God you go tell the ravens to feed me now why is that a big deal because Raven the unclean birds, the Jews were prohibited from eating ravens.

They will clean birds and yet he says I'm going to tell the clean birds Deuteronomy 14 versus 11 to 14th ravens are unclean, and yet God says I will tell the unclean bird to take care you some limitations about God. They can use the unclean to answer prayer. God said you came arrangement. He didn't say I can use 11 of the things you need to know about God is that he chose his will never inconsistent with himself, but anything he created.

He can use to accomplish his purpose, even if it belongs to the devil. I'm a fellow curveball and to you right now, but God can use the devil to answer your prayer that God is so if you have this training view of God and God can only do it this way that I understand that I'm used to and I can seek to miss out on some stuff.

You know how Israel got the money to leave Egypt and says that the Egyptians got some of the plagues that God had sent them.

The people started giving the Jews there so that goal in our last stop so God is able Egypt to man's Israel walking away from Asia to fulfill his command to let my people go, so you will people to fund all rules will got rebuilt and the temple got rebuilt on the book of Nehemiah it says that the king of Persia provided Miriam the passage and use the government to fund the rebuilding of this program so you stretch your view of God is so good at that. Even the devil got to hand it over. When God calls for the Scripture says that God uses the wealth of the wicked to support the righteous to you about your unsaved balls.

Your view about those evil people in your vicinity has to understand that God is also on the bottom of how things will work out so God within unclean bird descending into an unclean location.

So he gives you a little bit to work with over here is called the mood to something big if you seen God provide in a weird way then you have a limited your view of God, so God knows you need an encounter which we people have to create you a situation have to put Jana scenario doing the deal with your idolatry or take you deeper in your faith, and that usually means scenario you can't solve yourself if you can solve it.

You know he would go to that earthly solution rather than his heavenly intervention retailer two-story young lady in our church came to me one day and she said I'm in a crisis. Please let me see we got her in and she said my boss has asked me to do something illegal and unethical use asked me to do something illegal and ethical. I told him I was a Christian.

I couldn't do that. He told me know you're going to do it because if you don't do it. I will fire you. She called me up and she came to see me. She says I'm in a crisis.

I desperately need my job. But I know I'm not supposed to do this unethical thing and I and and I'm afraid I'm struggling. I just need some with. I need some help. I said what this is clear this is not even a close call.

This is a clear issue.

You know you can't do it. That's why you came to me.

Let me help you. Let me reinforce this is something you cannot do when you just have to believe God because this boss has the upper hand and so I just, encouraged her and gave her a little bit more carriage than perhaps she had initially she went back to work the next day and told the balls. I can't do that that would be unethical. I just can't do that. He gave her a pink slip and fire because she would not conform to that which was clearly unethical. A week later she calls me back and she's all excited on the phone as it was going on since you will believe what happened. She said my bosses boss called him in my bosses boss called him in and challenged him while he did nothing. I told him I could not do my bosses balls my balls called me and gave me his position data driven word about how that kind of worry can be your kind of story when he comes back in a moment to rampant this lesson from his current series divine encounters first. So don't forget to request your copy of our current double resource package. Tony's new book kingdom encounters plus his current eight message teaching series divine encounters. As I mentioned, they're both yours with our thanks for your donation to keep this listener supported program coming your way. This special offer won't be available for long, so don't wait visit Tony up and start org before time runs out to make the arrangements or color resource Center at 1-800-800-3222 anytime of the day or night. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222 then be sure to join us tomorrow as Dr. Evans tells us more about why we can count on God to provide for our needs, even if he doesn't do it on our timetable right now though he's back to wrap up our time together with this final word's provisions look like it will save on the front God's provision. It may not look like God is anywhere to be found. But if God is your source your balls is not. If God is your source then your company is not merely goals. And God knows how to change cars switch vehicles takes away any sense of being owned by this world. This world is not suppose you. The Bible says use this world benefit from this world, but don't make this world your God, or a competing deity. Until we understand that we only have one source until we understand that God is your only source and he doesn't want any competitors that you will be bouncing from resource to resource. This resource works out. Maybe this resource maybe is that resort we jump in and doing hopping jacks all over the place hoping that maybe this is the resource for you. You only have one the alternative with Dr. Tony Irvin alternative is made possible by the generous contributions of listeners