CrossTalk: Your Promise of Biblical Proportions

Jesus teaches us to set aside every worldly concern that would hinder our full devotion to the one true God. He teaches us that there is absolutely no conflict between loving, serving and worshiping God above all things, and tending to our material needs in the real world.

It is the devil who drives a wedge between the two. It is the devil who makes you so busy that you have no time to attend church. It is the devil who makes you so frantic that you neglect others.

It is Satan who makes you worry so much about storing up for the future that you rob God and your neighbors of the time, talent and treasures that you owe to them in the present.

So Jesus makes a promise: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). And not only does he promise, He also gave us a record in the Bible of countless real-life events where He fulfilled this promise and proved Himself worthy of your trust.

In these biblical stories, real people—just like you and I—had their needs taken care of in wonderful and miraculous ways. And God caused these stories to be recorded in order to give you a deeper trust in His promise to provide for all of your needs. You should read them in that way.

God’s providing for Elijah during a three-year drought is one such story (1 Kings 17).

God brought a punishing drought upon Israel and He told Elijah to travel to a specific stream (Cherith). God promised that the stream would provide the water that he needed and that birds—specifically ravens—would bring him food (1 Kings 17:4).

We are used to seeing birds who snatch bread out of garbage cans, out of your hand, and sometimes off your picnic table. But when was the last time you saw birds bring you anything? That’s the astounding part of this story.

But not only did actual birds bring Elijah a meal. They did it day after day—until, finally, the drought got so bad that the stream itself dried up.

Next, God did something even more remarkable. He told Elijah to walk 100 miles northwest to a foreign city to get fed there. Even stranger, God did not promise that a rich man would take care of him there. Rather, He promised that an impossibly poor widow would feed him.

When he arrived, Elijah found the widow. But she had already nearly starved to death and had only enough flour and oil to make one final loaf of bread.

But God gave her a promise, too. He promised that she could share that handful of flour with Elijah and it would never run out. She believed God, and the promise repeatedly came true.

Every day she would make a loaf of bread from the last of her supplies. And the next day, when she returned to the pantry, there would be the same amount of flour in the bin and oil in the jar as there was the day before.

This miracle repeated itself for more than two years—until the drought was over.

This is exactly like the promise that Jesus gives to you in the words: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). He is not exaggerating—any more than he was exaggerating when he spoke to the widow of Zerephath.

God does this all for the sake of Jesus who died for you. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things” (Romans 8:32)?