Text: 2 Sam 15:25-26
Memory Verse:
“Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
Hebrews 12:11 NKJV
Yesterday, we saw how Brook Cherith dried up and Elijah was directed to a poor widow in Zarephath (1 Kings 17: 7-9). Many years ago in ministry, we had an experience of dried up brook too. The drought suddenly came and we stood amazed as it ravaged everything we had laboured to build in the past years. Like a dream, the brook dried up! Someone once said, “The only predictable thing about God is that He is unpredictable!” (Rom 11:33). Elijah had just been posted from the dry brook to a dying widow’s house! Most people experience bewilderment not only when the brook dries up but at what happens afterwards.
So, what should you do when the brook dries up?
Firstly, thank God for He has used the brook to meet your needs in the past. Never allow your present challenge to cause you to forget past favour (1 Thes 5:18).
Secondly, look inward to find out if the dry brook is a divine tool to discipline you. In our text, David watched his kingdom collapsing like a pack of cards! He knew well that the sudden drying of his ‘brook’ was God’s discipline, so he submitted himself to it. Don’t flee from the ‘brook’ to escape discipline nor to hide a character flaw. Yes, no discipline is joyful but painful yet it yields great result for those who accepted it (Heb 12:11). God uses the brook to refine our character. If you escape the brook of God’s discipline directly or through human hands, your unrefined character will testify against you in the future.
Thirdly, once you have ruled out God’s discipline, then begin to thank God for the provision He has ahead for you. Whenever the brook dries up, it’s just a reminder that God has something great in stock for you. Look at the future with great expectations and not as being hopeless and depressed (2 Cor 4:18).
Fourthly, break away from the past mentality. Staying too long in a brook can create a sentimental yearning for the past, describing it as the ‘good old days’. Don’t let it be an idol that hinders you from going to the next level (Isa 43:19). If Elijah had refused to obey God’s command, he would have dried with the brook.
Friends, while God, sometimes brings us to the next level through a dry brook experience, we must ensure that we are not fleeing from discipline to hide a character flaw or a negative attitude.
Prayer points
1. Father, please, let me never flee from Your discipline, which You directly inflict or through Your human agents in Jesus name.
2. I break away from the grip of the past and I look forward to the new things ahead of me in Jesus name.
Today’s declarations
1. I don’t flee from the drying brook to escape discipline or to hide my character flaws.
2. The brook may be good but I see something far better coming after it.
Contact: pastor@thf.org.ng