If you have your Bibles tonight, 1 Kings chapter number 17. And I wanna draw your attention. Brother Brandon, would you go in my office? I left my notes in my office. I think on that desk, on my table, on my tabletop. That's what I did, I left my note in there. Yep. Okay. Let me just remind you tonight, if you have your Bible, you'll notice in 1 Kings chapter number 17, In verse number one, Elijah the Tishbite, who is of the inhabitants of Gilgal, said unto Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. Now if you take your outline tonight, if you notice it on the screen, Elijah prophesied a drought for as long as it took to bring Abraham and Israel a portion to their knees. Now I wanna take just a minute, we'll get the outline here in a second, but Abraham prophesied and God heard it and God answered his prayer. So he prophesied there would be no rain, there'd be no water for three and a half years. Now, that took a lot of faith that he did that. Because how many of us would go in and say, look, to the most important man in that country, Ahab, and say, look, I'm going to pray, and it's not going to rain until I say next. Because God has given me the authority to pray, and he's going to hear me, and all of a sudden, it stopped raining. Now, nobody knew it that day or the next day, but after about a month of no rain, people began to put two and two together and say, I wonder if that preacher really was telling the truth. And after about two or three months, all of a sudden, wow, that preacher must have been telling the truth. And then after about six months, oh man, where is that preacher? And so they were beginning to wonder, what are we going to do now? And then you'll notice if you would, not only that, but But God had worked in the people's hearts and he was trying to bring them to their knees to where they would look at the Lord and say, Lord, we're sorry. We do want to serve you. We do want to worship you. And not the gods of Ahab and Jezebel. We do want to worship you. Well, this is God's way to bring them to their knees. Do you understand that tonight, Maybe this coronavirus is some way to help us to understand that God is trying to get our attention too. So the Lord's trying to get our attention, and we want to make sure that we have the things that God wants us to do, and we want to get our hearts right before the Lord. I want you to notice that Elijah prophesied And when he did, then the society that was there said, oh my goodness, we're going to wait and see how in the world. We're going to wait and see how in the world that God's going to do this if God's going to do it. that this prayer, Elijah has to trust the Lord to answer his prayer before it happened. He had to trust Him to do that. Now, I want you to understand tonight that many of us, we don't have to pray like that. We don't pray like that. I mean, we have to pray and say, Lord, help me before, but we don't stick our necks out and say to everybody, look, I want you to know something. It's not gonna rain for three and a half years. Elijah did that. Now, I want you to notice, Elijah had to pray in faith. Notice with Nithyudin, you don't have to turn there, but in James chapter five, it says, Elijah prayed in faith. The effects of fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. So he had to trust the Lord. He had to step out on faith and say, Lord, I'm gonna trust you to answer my prayers. Now, I want you to notice if you would, notice if you would in Roman numeral two, you can see God provided during the drought. I want you to notice if you would, God did provide during the drought. I want you to notice if you would in verse number two, and the word of the Lord came at him saying, get thee hence and turn thee eastward and hide thyself by the brook Cherith. that it is before Jordan, and it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan." So understand tonight that God is trying to provide for Elijah. You'll notice he's trying to protect him and provide for him. And you'll notice, if you would, that here he says, okay, look, I'm gonna take care of you here. I'm gonna watch out for you. And he takes these birds, which are ravens, and these ravens are the ones that, they're scavengers. So they don't provide food for anybody else. They just eat for themselves. And so it's a miracle that God provides for him. He does it supernaturally. He provides for Elijah supernaturally. You'll notice he protected him. And I'm gonna go back up the outline, Roman numeral two. He protected Elijah during the drought. Okay, notice if you would, A, God protected him. when he hid him for three and a half years. In 1 Kings chapter three, you'll notice it says, verse three, he says, hide thyself by the brook Cherith. Now I want you to notice tonight that God is trying to protect him from Ahab. If you take your Bible and turn to chapter 18, verse number 10, you'll notice, as the Lord thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whether my Lord hath not sent to seek thee. So Ahab has been trying to find him for three and a half years. He's been hunting for him. So God has to protect Elijah. And that's exactly what he's been doing. You'll notice that he protects him physically. Notice if you would. by hiding him for these three and a half years. So physically, he takes Elijah and puts him aside so that every time Elijah looks over here, every time Ahab looks over here, he puts him over on this side and vice versa, so that he could never find Elijah. Now he looks for him for three and a half years and he is just furious with Elijah. As a matter of fact, he's made people swear. Notice if you would in chapter 18, look if you would in verse number, verse number, Chapter 18, verse number 11. And now thou sayest, Go and tell thy Lord, behold, Elijah is here. It shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone to thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee, whether I know not. And so when I come and tell Ahab, he cannot find thee, he shall slay me. So he is terrified, this servant of the Lord, that Elijah is going to disappear and he's going to have to go back to Ahab and say, I saw Elijah, but I can't find him anymore. God so protected Elijah that Ahab nor anybody on earth couldn't find him in their country. So he protected him physically, but he also protected him spiritually. And notice if you would, in verse number two, If you would notice 1 Kings 17, 2, and the word of the Lord came unto him saying, so God spoke to Elijah during this three and a half years. Look if you would in verse 8, and the word of the Lord came unto him saying, he spoke to him again. You'll notice if you would look in verse number 20. And he cried unto the Lord and said, O Lord, my God hast thou brought all this evil upon the widow upon whom I sojourned by slaying her. And then God heard that prayer. So God was speaking to him and hearing him during these three and a half years. So God didn't bring a drought to Elijah's heart. Now folks tonight, we may be in a time of difficult nature. I mean, we're in a drought here many ways. We're in a drought of social interaction. We can't get together. We're in a drought of being able to go up and hug each other. There's not the sweetness that there once was amongst the church family, even among some families, especially when one is ill. So understand that whenever a difficult time comes, it is God that protects us physically, and we want Him to protect us spiritually by being close to us. And that's what He does. So in difficult days like this, God wants to protect you by being close to you. by guiding your life. So you and I need to learn to trust him and say, Lord, I want you to protect me spiritually. I need you to speak to me. I want to speak to you, Lord, so we can pray each morning. You see that multiple times you'll notice that Elijah prayed and said, Lord, Can I talk to you? And God always heard. So during drought times of drought, God still hears his children and he still hears you and I. So I want to encourage you tonight. Don't let the drought creep over into your spiritual nature. Spend time with the Lord during these difficult days. Elijah did. Can you imagine? Notice if you would. In Roman numeral three, God provided for Elijah. He protected him. In Roman numeral two and verse, Roman numeral three, God provided for Elijah throughout the drought. Now I want you to notice, God put a hedge about Elijah that he couldn't be found. And so that he was safe. And we're safe in this difficult day. Because the heavenly father watches out for us. But you notice, provision is really the question. Is God really gonna provide for us during these difficult days? Yes, he is. The Bible says, I've never seen the righteous forsaken. God loves you and I. He's gonna provide for you. And I want you to see this passage. Let it be a lesson to all of us. Notice if you would, he's sending by the brook Cherith, and notice in verse four, it shall be that thou shall drink of the brook, so he had fresh water every day, And he said, and I've commanded the ravens to feed thee there. Now, again, A in the outline, God commanded the ravens to feed him supernaturally. Like I said before, ravens don't feed people. They take from people. They take from old dead bodies. They're scavengers. But God took a dirty bird, cleaned him up, and gave him commands and he obeyed. and he brought food, both meat and bread to Elijah. Notice if you would, in verse number five. So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. Now that's the key to protection. That's the key to provision. is that you and I obey the Lord when he gives us a command, when he gives us direction in our heart. Are we obedient to the Lord tonight? If you're not obedient to the Lord, you're not going to provide for us like he wants to, because you're not in the place of the Lord's blessing. So you'll notice in verse number five, so it went and did according to the word of the Lord, for it went and dwelt by the brook Cherith. That is before Jordan, now watch verse six. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the brook. Now when you notice, somehow these ravens, maybe they even went to Ahab's table and got it. We don't know, it'd be just like the Lord if he did that. But they brought it, and I want you to notice, it was a supernatural provision. One of the very few times that God uses a bird that's considered dirty that we would never eat of because they're scavengers, and God didn't allow the Israelites to eat of any animal that was a scavenger. It wasn't a hog, it wasn't a raven, it wasn't even a catfish, anything like that. Had to have scales, wouldn't allow them to eat them because they're kind of a dirty animal in the sense that they would eat anything. So their meat was not as good as what God wanted for them. So you'll notice this bird, raven, brings him bread and brings him flesh. Twice a day, so won't you notice? Two, A2, the ravens fed him on Elijah's schedule. Now, isn't the Lord's provision always wonderful? I mean, I don't know about you, but this stimulus money seems to be coming at just the right time for a lot of people. And it's sort of like the Lord says, look, I'm gonna help you, I got you. And for Christians, I'm gonna take care of you. But the timing is up to the Lord. And so I just want to remind you, as you look at this passage, remember, he fed him morning and evening. We get hungry morning and evening, and now Americans, we get hungry three times a day. But Elijah and this world, they didn't eat but a couple times a day, because they didn't have that much food. And so they're much healthier than we are. But you'll notice, if you would, he feeds him morning and evening, and on a schedule that God set for the prophet. So remember that God sets a schedule for you and I. The question is, will we be at the right place at the right time? Can you imagine? Elijah says, you know, I'm bored. I'm bored being at this brook. So I'm going to go for a walk. And it's the evening time. But he said, I'm going to go for a walk. And so he goes for a walk, and he walks down to the brook, goes a long way away, and comes back, and the birds aren't there. Oh, I wonder where the ravens are. Oh, maybe they came earlier. You see, God has a schedule, and we abide by his schedule. And so God provided for him as long as he went by God's schedule. Now, I want you to notice, then all of a sudden, you'll see in verse number seven, and it came to pass after a while, and it doesn't, we don't know how long that is, it could have been six months, could have been a year, Could have been two years. But at the end of some period of time, the brook dries up. It was at least months. So let's say six months, morning and evening, the ravens come to feed him. Now, it's easy for us to say, man, this is boring every evening. Or we can say, thank the Lord, they're about ready to come. It's the way you look at things. We ought to have a positive spirit. In this time, we ought to have a positive spirit, expecting the blessing of God, because God will never be late. He'll always be on time. Oh, it may not be according to our schedule, but it is according to God's schedule. And you'll notice, if you would, in the outline, I mean, in the passage, look at verse 4. I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there." So God commanded the ravens and gave them the timetable. And then you'll notice in verse number six, and the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening. So they abided by the command of God. So even the birds of heaven abide by the commands of God when he needs them. You and I have to abide by the command of God also in order to have the provision of God. So notice he provided it on God's schedule, but Elijah, it was good for him, even though it was God's schedule. So God provided on Elijah's schedule, but Elijah had to be there, or it was not his schedule, it was God's schedule. So understand tonight, God provides for you and I, as long as we abide by him. And then you'll notice, if you would, God commanded a widow to feed him sacrificially. Now you notice, then the scene changes in verse eight. And the word of the Lord came to him saying, rise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongs to Zidon, and dwell there. Behold, I commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. Now, Zidon is not Israelite. This woman probably was not of Jewish descent. And the reason we think that is notice if you would, you can see that she doesn't say my God, but she says your God in the passage here. You'll notice if you would in verse number 12. And she said, as the Lord thy God liveth. It wasn't her God. So here's a woman, she's probably unsaved. but she can tell that Elijah's a prophet by the way he's dressed, by the way he looks. So he walks in and notice in verse number 10, and he arose. Now remember, you see the same exact wording, God commanded the ravens, but notice if you would in verse number nine, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So God uses people, sinners and saints alike So he said, I've commanded a widow. So God takes this poor widow, notice if you would, in verse 10, to take care of Elijah, to provide for him. And see, he arose and went to Zarephath. So Elijah does exactly what God says on God's timetable and does things the way God says it. That's why God can provide for him. And that's the way God can provide for you and I. That's the reason we don't pick our job out. We say, Lord, I sure would like to have this, but not my will, then yours be done. And then God provides the right job at the right time. So we have to be in the place of blessing in order to be provided for. And we can see that with Elijah. He was in the place of blessing at Cherith and God provided for him. When it dried up, he says, I want you to go to Zarephath. He was in the place of blessing when it was the right time. And that's what you and I have to do. Now notice if you would, in verse number 11, verse number 10 rather. And he rose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering sticks. And he called her, said, fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, so she says, okay, I'll get you some water. And he called her and said, bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, as the Lord thy God liveth. Understand, just like your God's alive, mine's not. I ain't got nothing to eat. Notice, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in the cruise, and behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that he may eat it and die. They're at the end of their rope. They have no God, they're at the end of their rope. And maybe you're at the end of your rope during these difficult days. You need to come to the Lord and say, Lord, how do I get in the middle of your blessing? How do I get in the right place of blessing? How do I surrender my heart to you so that you can take care of me? I surrender. That's what God wants us to do. That's many times the reason difficulties come our way, is to cause us to trust him. Well, you'll notice verse 13. Elijah said unto her, fear not. You know why he had to say that? She was afraid. She was afraid she was going to die. She was afraid her boy was going to die. So there's fear in her heart. And when he asked for a piece of cake, she said, I don't have any. So notice, go and do as thou hast said. Go get your two sticks. Fix your cake. He said, but make their other little cake first. Make me a little cake first. Now this was a test to see if she would trust the prophet's word and trust the Lord. Remember, she only had enough for one that her and her son were gonna share it. Notice if you would, verse 12, I have not a cake, a cake. I'm gonna make one left and eat it. And he said, make me a little cake, a little piece of it. Let's split it up. Make me a little cake and a little cake for y'all. So he didn't ask for all of it. He just asked for a small piece of it. But first, there's a trust factor here. So you'll notice if you would, Rome number one, B1, God challenged the widow's faith by having her prepare food for Elijah first. And sometimes you and I have to learn to give the Lord first before he takes care of things. We have to learn to spend time for somebody else first before he gives us time for ourselves. Notice if you would. Elijah said, verse 13, "'Fear not, go and do as thou hast said, but make me thereof a little cake first. Bring it unto me, and after that for thee and for thy son.'" He didn't ask for all of it. He asked for a little cake. And so there would have been a less for her and less for him and a little bit for Elijah, and they were going to split it up. In verse 14, "'For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the crucible of oil fail.'" until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. So he looks at her and says, look, you make a little cake for me, a little cake for you, and it'll never stop. You'll be able to do that from now on until it rains. Well, I can imagine her in her mind going and saying, yippee, man, praise the Lord. The Lord's gonna take care of me. I don't think she said that. I think she went over to that cake, poured that meal in there, that oil, and said, I wonder if he's telling me the truth. I don't know, but she did what he said in faith. She fixed it for Elijah first, poured that oil in there the next morning. Wow, I thought it was empty. Wow, I thought the meal was empty. I can imagine she poured a little bit bigger cake and said, I'll fix him a little bit more. See if it'll hold up. Fixed another one for him. Here's one for my boy. Here's one for me. Wow. And about the fourth day, I think she got it figured out. You want a big cake, Elisha? I'll fix you a big cake. And so she just pointed out that just keeps coming. She's got to figure it out. That cruise of oil and that meal of oil, that meal is not going to run out. So we're going to have a good time. Now, notice if you would, in verse number 15, and she went and did according to the saying of Elijah, she and he and her house and did eat many days. Now, we don't know if that was a month, three months, a year, we don't know. But between the two, it was about three, three and a half years between the ravens and the widow. So God took care of Elijah miraculously. Now I want you to notice, if you would, 2, B2 in the outline, God commanded Elijah to eat of her meager food. Now, God was not giving Elijah a seven course meal. I mean, he didn't have an appetizer. The Lord was taking care of him because remember, it was his prayer that brought the nation to its knees. So God's trying to keep him close to the Lord too. He's not make the nation suffer and blessing the prophet hand over fist. He's keeping them all close to him. And so Elijah's eating the same food she is, but it's sufficient and it's good and it provides. So I'm guarantee you that Elijah says, Lord, thank you. And he didn't complain like the children of Israel did in the wilderness. And so God blessed him. Now, I want you to notice, not only, if you would, that you go back and you see Elijah prophesied all this to come to pass. God heard his prayer, the fervent, factual prayer of a righteous man availeth much. So Elijah got on his knees and said, oh Lord, would you stop the rain? Our nation needs to be brought to its knees. And God says, yes sir, I will. And he did, and it stopped raining. And then he goes and tells Ahab, said, I've asked the Lord to not let it rain and it's not raining for as long as I say not to rain. Now, God would tell Elijah, I'll tell you whenever it's time to pray and bring forth the rain. But God had a plan to have this great big massive meeting of all the religious leaders of Baal and Jezebel and Ahab and to show whose God was real. This whole thing for three and a half years was built to that day of worship to say to Israel, there is a God in heaven and I am yours. and it was all brought to that day. So Elijah is waiting for the Lord to use him. He is waiting for that day. So he's in the midst of this three and a half years, and so his prophecy, God used him to prophesy, and God said, I'm gonna protect you, Elijah. I know that the world's gonna be after you, because they heard what you did. Not one man on earth will touch you. I'll protect you. And then he said, and I'll provide for you too. So remember, in every difficult time, there's both protection and there's provision. And you and I can trust Him. And you know what? And the third thing is, God will preserve us. Notice if you would, God preserved the widow and her son by her obedience. Now listen very carefully. If you want the continued provision and protection of God, and turn it into this word, Preserving. He'll keep you well. He'll preserve you. Then you're going to have to obey. Now, I want you to notice, if you would, Romans 4, in the outline, God preserved the widow and her son by obedience. Notice A, Elijah would not have been present to raise her son if she had not obeyed at the first. Can you imagine if she would have said, look Elijah, I'm not going to fix a meal for you. Look, I've only got one cake. We're going to eat it and die. She would have died. But she obeyed. And so as she obeyed every morning, remember he said the crucible will not fail, nor the meal will not fail until it rains again. So you know what she's not gonna do? She's not gonna leave her house when it's mealtime because she has the promise of God. And so every morning and every evening she's there and God's preserving her, preserving her day after day after day. And then God, you know, and I believe this woman has become a Christian now. I think she's put her faith and trust in Elijah's God now. And so now God's gonna test her faith So notice if you would, verse 17, and it came to pass after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick. And his sickness was so sore that there was no breath left in him. He died. And she said unto Elijah, what have I done unto thee? that thou man of God, O thou man of God, art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance and to slay my son. Now, she's a widow woman, and so we don't know what her sins are, but she was just reflecting back and saying, did you come here just to remind me that I'm a sinner? And so you'll notice, if you would, he said unto her, give me thy son. So I think Elijah's just as shocked as she is. Lord, there's nothing going on. There's no food, there's no water. You're preserving us one day at a time. Father, you're being so good to us, but Lord, and if they would have ever looked into that vase, there's just a little bit of oil. If they ever looked into that meal vase, just a little bit of meal. There was never an abundance. Now, I love oatmeal in the morning, and when my oatmeal, a tube gets down near the bottom, I'm looking for the next box. Well, I know that it's going to run out soon." She could look in the box and had faith to say, it's never running out until it rains again. You and I have to learn to trust the Lord. He will preserve us. He will take care of us day at a time. And notice if you would, so her son dies. So what does Elijah do? She knew exactly who to go to. And you'll notice she says to him, look, he said to her, give me thy son. So she does. And he took him out of her bosom. So she's holding her son and so she gives him to Elijah. He carried him up into a loft where he abode. So he abode up in the top. He lived up in the top of a little house that you lived in and laid him up on his own bed. And he cried unto the Lord. Now this is a man that's an effectual, fervent, righteous man. So guess what God's going to do? He's going to answer. So realize that even in the midst of tremendous stress, bread and water, God's still going to answer as long as we're in the right place with the right heart. And so God says, okay, I'm listening. He cried unto the Lord and said, oh Lord, my God. Hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourned by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried unto the Lord and said, O Lord my God, I pray that you let this child's soul come into him again. Do you understand tonight that Elijah prayed twice for this child, but he prayed twice to my God. That means Elijah was close enough to the Lord to say, he is my God. There was a relationship there. There was a fellowship there. And folks tonight, you and I can always pray in stressful times, in times of drought, in times of blessing, we can always go to the Lord and say, Lord, you're my God. Could I talk to you? And that's what God wants. And many times we have to go through a drought before we recognize, oh, how mighty our God is. So Elijah prays and pleads with the Lord in verse number 22. And I love this part. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah. And the soul of the child came unto him again and revived. Can you imagine? Elijah prayed and it hadn't rained. And then he prays. That never says that he prayed for food and water. God just provided it. It doesn't say he prayed whenever the brook dried up. It says that the Lord commanded him to go someplace else. So the Lord many times answers our prayers before we even pray them. Anybody had that happen to you before? I mean, the Lord just provides before you can even ask. You know what? The Lord knows the needs of our heart. Whether it's a drought or whatever it might be, God knows the needs of your heart. We need to learn to trust him. He'll preserve us. He will protect us. He will provide for us, his children, if we say, Lord, you're my God. And that means something. Tonight, when you pray, do you pray to your God, the one that's close to you, the one that knows your name? You know his name, you know his character, you know his love for you. Is he your God like Elijah had here? Well, you'll notice if you would, verse 23. Now, I can tell you this, this is one of the greatest joys of Elijah's life. to pick up that boy off that bed and go down the stairs. Notice what he does. And Elijah took the child and brought him down out of the chamber into the house and delivered him unto his mother. And Elijah said, see thy son liveth. Can you imagine the joy that would be? Your son was dead and you take him upstairs and he's lifeless. And she's weeping downstairs and trying to keep the tears back and saying, oh God, what are you doing? And her whole life is gone because this boy is everything to her. And all of a sudden Elijah comes down the stairs and says, see your son's alive. It's like, oh. Do you know what, when you and I tell somebody about Christ, we get the same privilege. They're dead, they're brought back to life. And that's the reason why you and I wanna pray for the souls of men, that God can take the dead and bring them back to life, to a new life in Christ. Notice if you would, in verse number 24, and the woman said unto Elijah, now buy this, I know that thou art a man of God and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth. So you'll notice if you would, A in the outline, Elijah would not have been present to raise her son if she had not obeyed at the first. If she would have done what Elimelech did with Naomi and gone out of the land of Israel, gone out of her land here of Zarephath, looking for food and water, there'd have been no raising her son, he would have died. So being in the place of God's blessing and of God's promise is critical to God's blessing. Notice if you would, in the outline, she was strengthened and her faith assured by her simple obedience. Because she stayed there and kept fixing for Elijah first and kept taking care of Elijah first. Every morning she said, there's just barely enough for me, but I got to fix Elijah's first. She fixed his first and there was still more for them. And it was morning after morning, after morning, after morning. There is a point in time where you develop the faith because you have seen the blessing of God, the blessing of God, the blessing of God, where you expect the blessing of God. Are we there yet? Are we to the place where we know the character of God to where we expect him to take care of us? You know what? I think that's the lesson of the story. God wants us to expect him to trust him. You know, when Susan was unable to really do a lot of things herself, she would expect me to help her. And I was thrilled by that. When it would come out here to get her in the car, and she was too weak to get in, she would expect me to pick her up and put her in the car. She just trusted me for that. I can't tell you the joy it was. It was sad to me that she couldn't do it herself, but it was thrilling to me that she would wait for me to take care of her. And she would just sort of reach out and like, would you help me? And she knew I always would. And it was such a thrill to my heart to see her trust in me. Oh, I couldn't let her down. I had to always make sure I was there to try to help best I could. I remember when she was in Dallas, we have Pat Arnold, she's in Dallas. And Susan didn't tolerate Dallas very well. Now I remember, she was very afraid if I wasn't there. So I would go out in the lobby and study, take all my books, and I'd take the cell phone and I'd punch in my number and I'd put it right, her phone, put it right there beside her and put it right on her chair and she would lean back and as they would take her blood out and clean it, many times it would cause her to get dizzy and she would pass out. Before she would, She pushed that button and it called me. And I had to be there within 30 seconds because I knew something was wrong. And every time she'd push that button, I'd come running in. Sometime it would be, oh honey, I'm so sorry, but I dropped my blanket. Would you help me? And I'd pick it up and put her in. But there would be times when she was going out and she'd push that button. All the thrill to my heart when I could go running in there and say, honey, I got it, don't worry about it. And I'd call the nurse over and we'd get it taken care of and she'd come back. And she'd say, thank you, honey. There was a trust there that she had in me that I want in the Lord. I want to know that when I say, oh my God, that the Lord says, I got you, son. And tonight, I think this widow woman learned that trust, poured that oil out for Elijah first, for herself next. Son, and it never stopped. There's a point where you begin to expect that oil to continue. There's a point where Elijah went up in that loft and took that boy up into that loft and laid him on his bed and he expected God to answer. Lord, please, would you let this child live? He knew God would answer. You know, folks, I long to pray like that. I long to expect God, to have the confidence in the character of God, to know that God would answer. Now, I probably will never have the ability to pray like Elijah prayed, to know for sure what God wants. So I'm always going to pray, Lord, if it be your will, would you do this? Because I don't want to ask for something and get it and not be what God wants. So I've learned to pray like Jesus prayed. Lord, if it be your will, let this cup pass from me. But if not, thy will be done. So tonight, I want you to learn to expect great things from God, even in the midst of the drought. Tonight, God loves you. He used Elijah to prophesy and he backed him up. He answered his prayer. But he protected Elijah during the whole time. He provided for Elijah during the whole time and he preserved him. and the widow woman until it rained again. Tonight, God will preserve you if you'll be in the place of blessing with a closeness to God to reach up and say, oh my God, the Lord loves you tonight. Will you trust him? Expect great things from God. Let's bow our heads for the prayer tonight. Gonna ask the penis to come and play a verse of invitation hymn. Tonight, maybe you're struggling during this pandemic, during this drought. Could I challenge you? Spend a little time with the Lord. Get close to him and trust him. He'll provide for you. He'll preserve you. Oh, it may not be with steak and eggs. It may not be with filet mignon. but it'll be sufficient. So tonight, could I challenge you to get close to the Lord tonight during these difficult days, just like Elijah did, and trust the Lord to take care of you. Lord Jesus, speak to our hearts tonight. I thank you, dear Lord, for the protection, the provision, and the preservation that you brought to Elijah, and that you brought to this widow, Lord, it is such an encouragement to my heart to know that if you met the needs of an unnamed widow woman, you would meet my needs too. Lord, you said that Elijah was a man who was subject to like passions as we are. So he's a man just like me, and Lord, you took care of him, you'll take care of me. Lord, you'll take care of us. Would you bless tonight, speak to hearts, in your name I pray, amen.