1 Kings, and the chapter 17. We are obviously looking here at the ministry of the prophet Elijah, and as we were considering last week the subject of the widow woman, or coming up to that portion of the widow woman, we mentioned that after being sustained at the brook which then dried up according to his own prayers, Elijah was going to be fed, he was going to be cared for by a widow woman in Zarephath, or as it is in the New Testament, Sarepta. Whenever we think about this woman, as we mentioned last Lord's Day, she is an outstanding example of sovereign election. Sovereign election is the doctrine which says that God has for no other reason at all but His own good pleasure, chosen out from among men a people for Himself, who will bring praise and honour to Him eternally. And the Lord Jesus Himself picked out this woman at Sarepta as an example of God choosing some and passing by others, because He said there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah. but unto none of them was he sent, but unto a woman who was in Gentile territory, in Sarepta. And that's a humbling truth, that we have this privilege of being chosen by the Lord for no other reason but His own good pleasure. And what a privilege this widow enjoyed, unlike those other widows that lived in the land at that time. to host a man of God like Elijah in her home was no small thing. But it wasn't just Elijah. It was the presence of God that was with Elijah that made all the difference to this woman, and especially the emphasis that Elijah placed upon the word of the Lord, which, obviously, this woman was impacted by. But there are a number of lessons that we learn from this widow woman. her circumstances, her situation, and what happened to her in this portion in 1 Kings 17. I want us to think today particularly about the subject of trials and testings. Because you have here a woman who was tested greatly by the Lord. And that's the first point I want us to consider today. That is her great trouble. She was in trouble, no question. If you read from verse 10, the Bible tells us that Elijah arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman, and it says the widow woman because she was a particular widow woman chosen out by God, the very one that he referred to in verse 9. I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So when he comes to the gate of the city, lo and behold, he sees that very woman there. What's she doing? She's gathering sticks for this purpose. She was going to make her last meal, as she thought, for her and her son. There was famine in the land. And this woman was a partaker of the results of that, the consequences of that. She was suffering. And the Bible tells us about her trouble here. In verse 12, particularly, she said, And that's a very interesting statement. It's very easy to pass that over. How did she know about Jehovah God? How did she know? that Elijah was a man of God and that he was a servant of the Lord. Jehovah is the word in the original. She said, as the Lord thy God liveth. It's interesting that. I believe that the Lord had revealed this to her. It's possible, of course, that Elijah introduced himself, but I don't think so. As the flow of the passage goes, it appears that he had just met her, And he just talked to her about getting a morsel of bread to bring it to him. And she said, as the Lord thy God liveth. She knew that Elijah was a servant of the living God. But here she is in trouble. She's in a state of distress. Let me just stop there to say that there are people who imagine that those who serve the Lord, Christians, not like this woman, but Christians should never be in trouble. They should never have any difficulties. In fact, one man wrote a book which is called Your Best Life Now. The idea being that as a Christian, you can expect the best of everything. You'll have a great marriage. You'll have a great job. You'll have a wonderful home and car. All will go well for you. Everything will be hunky-dory in your life because you're a Christian, and that is so foreign to Scripture. It's so foreign to Christian experience in history. Because I could name preacher after preacher, missionary after missionary, and regular Christian after Christian who have been in great trouble. And not least, from the time that they became Christians, it's like their troubles increased. Their trouble got worse. when they became Christians, not the other way around. So this idea, and they call it a gospel, it's not the gospel. It's called the prosperity gospel, but it's not the gospel. It's a false message. The idea that you're never going to be in any distress or difficulty because you're not trusting in the Lord is complete nonsense. The Christian life is far from plain sailing. A lot of times you're in choppy waters. A lot of times it might appear that the boat is going to go under and sink. God has not promised you as a believer a life free of trials and problems. He simply hasn't promised that. In fact, He said the very opposite. Think of the words of Jesus in John 16 verse 33. "'These things I have spoken unto you, "'that in me you might have peace. "'In the world.'" And of course, that's where we live. We're not in heaven yet. "'In the world ye shall have tribulation.'" There's another scripture in the book of Acts which says we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. Where's your best life now? In that verse. "'But be of good cheer,' he said. "'Cheer up, I have overcome the world.'" You don't have to be downcast, you don't have to be discouraged, but you should expect tribulation in this world. The Apostle James said the same thing. The book of James begins in chapter one with these words in verse two and verse three. My brethren, he's writing to Christians, count it all joy when, not if, not if, there's no if, it's when, it's going to happen, when you fall into divers' temptations. Now, that's not trials that come upon people who dive into the water. It's nothing to do with deep-sea divers. This word divers means different kinds. You might say diverse, temptations, different kinds of trials is the thought. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. If we were going to read more about trials, we could do no better than go into 1 Peter and see that he speaks so much about trial and testing in his book. Now in her case, her great trouble involved poverty. Poverty. She was literally down to her last bite. A little bit of oil in the cruise and a handful of meal in the barrel. Now I know that here in America, we know very little of anything of this. We are so blessed. I think of countries today where people simply just don't have enough to eat, where there are children who will have, if they're fortunate, one bowl of rice to eat per day. That's a fact. It always bothers me greatly when I see people in a restaurant with children and they don't eat half of the food that's there, and instead of taking it with them, they just get, just tell them, forget about it, throw it out. It's a sin. That's what that is, that's a sin. Waste is a sin. We have so much. Here's a woman with literally hardly anything. She knew poverty. And the word zarephath is an interesting word that's translated then as serepta in the New Testament. It literally means a refining or smelting furnace. In other words, it's a place of great trial. What you do with a furnace and with the smelting pot is you melt down the metal, the gold or the silver, and you purify it. All the scum comes to the surface, you scrape it off, and then it becomes more pure. refining or smelting furnace. And there's no doubt that this widow woman was most certainly in the crucible of suffering. She was undergoing a fiery testing. And God often puts His people into furnaces of testing and affliction. I say that deliberately. The Lord does it. It's not just that He allows it, but He actually does it. He says, I have chosen thee. I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. One of the first books I read as a teenager was a book, I believe it was by Thomas Hooker, and it's called, Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod. Hear the rod, and who hath appointed it? That's the scripture that was used. There is a rod in the hand of God, and he uses it on us. He's testing us. He's trying us. We all know about Job, don't we? And the Bible talks about the patience of Job. That patience was greatly tested and tried. Job himself talked about this in chapter 23 of his book, in verse 10. Job 23, verse 10. "'But he knoweth the way that I take.'" He's referring to the Lord. "'When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.'" He's talking about being in the furnace, being in the smelting pot, being in the crucible. Again, as I mentioned earlier there, in 1 Peter, it refers to these fiery trials. Again, we're not to be surprised by them. 1 Peter 1, verses 6 and 7. wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. It means different kinds of trials, that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire. might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Further in chapter four and verses 12 and 13 of 1 Peter, he says this. Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. We're not to be surprised about the fiery trial which is to try us. Here's a woman in the furnace of testing and affliction. Her trouble involved poverty, and her trouble induced pessimism. It made her very discouraged. She was very pessimistic about the future. Have you ever felt like that? where you're pessimistic about the future, you just can't see any way that things will get better. You just don't know how it's going to improve. That happened to this woman. If you read verse 12 of 1 Kings 17, it's clear that she is so pessimistic that she expects the outcome for her and her son will be death. Here's what I'm doing. I've just got a handful of meal, I've just got a little bit of oil, I'm gonna gather two sticks, I'm gonna go in and dress this meal and this oil for me and my son, we're gonna eat it and then we're gonna die because we're all out of food. That's pessimism. This was not a woman whose glass was half empty, it was completely empty. She thought it was the end for herself and her only son. They would have their last meal and then they would die. She didn't have a husband anymore to provide for her and her son. That's why she was a widow woman. She's really at what's end here. But I want you to see that in her trouble, She failed to look up to the Lord herself. Notice carefully in verse 12, as I already indicated, she knew about Elijah's God, and she actually said, as Jehovah thy God, as the Lord thy God liveth. She didn't say, as the Lord my God liveth. She didn't say that. She couldn't say that, because it was not her God. But she did at least acknowledge this. "'As the Lord thy God liveth.'" Your God is alive. And that made me think of the hymn, Elijah's God Still Lives Today. An answer still by fire. Why did she not say, my God, because he wasn't hers? You need to make sure that the Lord is your God. It's not enough to say, oh, I believe in God, but is he your God? Do you belong to him? Does he belong to you? Can you say, my beloved is mine and I am his? Can you say that? Don't rest until you can say that. So this woman is pessimistic because she's looking at circumstances instead of looking at the Lord. She's looking at circumstances instead of looking toward heaven. Look at Matthew 14. From verse 29, the Lord Jesus here is calling to Peter to come to him on the water. Peter, get out of the boat and walk to me. He said, come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. So far, so good. Now don't be too critical of Peter because I would suggest that you and I may not have even got out of the boat in the first place. He got out of the ship. He had that much faith. He's walking in the water to go to Jesus. He's only one of two in history who ever walked on water. One was the Lord Jesus, the other was Peter. And notice what happened, verse 30. You see, he stops looking at Christ. He stops looking toward the Lord, and he starts looking at the circumstances, and he realizes this is a very heavy wind, and when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. Lord, I need you to save me. And by the way, anyone who is not saved, that's all you need to say. People think you have to have this big protracted period of time in seeking the Lord and making sure that he's ready to receive you. Listen, the Lord Jesus said, come unto me all you that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. You don't have to have a big period of time before you come to him. Oh yes, there are people and God works along with them. He does spend time with their soul, convicting them. But when it comes to that matter of the invitation to come to Christ, there is no necessity for you to wait. He says, come unto me, and all you've got to do is say, Lord, save me. Lord, save me. And if you say, Lord, save me, from a heart that's renewed by his Spirit, he will save you. But here is Peter sinking. And he cried, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Why are you so pessimistic, Peter? But before we judge Peter too harshly, think about our own times of trouble. Don't we so often walk by sight instead of by faith? We're not looking to the Lord, we're looking at the circumstances. You get a bill, it's a great big bill, and you think, how in the world am I going to pay that? And then the Lord does something miraculous and steps in and he answers prayer. So often we're not looking to the Lord, we're looking to the circumstances. We're caught up with the barrel of mail and the crews that are almost empty. That's what we're looking at, instead of looking to the Lord who can meet the need in an ongoing way. As well as her great trouble, though, I want us to think about really a companion thought here, and that is her great trial. It's not necessarily the same thing. There was trouble in her life, but this trouble was in itself a trial. She was being tested. She was being tested, and in particular, she was being tested as to whether she was willing to put God and His servant first before herself. Notice what Elijah said to her, verse 11. He called to her. He said, bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And that's when she said, look, I don't even have a cake of bread. I've just got a handful of meal, a little bit of oil. I'm going to prepare it for me and my son. And we're going to die because we're all out of food. And Elijah said, verse 13, notice it carefully, fear not. What great words those are. Those are words that often came out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus. They're words that are found so often in this scripture, fear not. The book of Isaiah is filled with those references in the chapters 41 and 42, 43 in there, fear not. Fear not, go and do as thou hast said. Do that, go get your sticks, go get the handful of meal and the little bit of oil. But I want you to make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me. And after, make for thee and for thy son. Was this not a great test? And was this not a great trial? You know, oftentimes the Lord, whatever our circumstances are, wants us to put God's cause first. Put the Lord first in our time, with our talents, with our treasure. With everything, put the Lord first. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. You think to yourself, well, I need this, and I need that, and I need the other thing. The first thing you need is to put God first. And He sees what your needs are, and He will meet those needs accordingly as you put Him first. Years ago, there... where little lapel pins that were being given out to people. I saw some Christians wearing them, and it was simply a little silver badge which was in letters. It said, Jesus first. I don't know if you remember those. Jesus first. But I used to see people wearing those now and again. I used to think to myself, I wonder, is that really true in that person's life? I mean, I'm not judging them. I'm just asking the question. I wonder, is that really true? Because I look at myself and think, could I even wear that badge? I don't know if I could. Because there are many times when I'm afraid that Jesus is not first. I'm first. What I want comes first instead of what the Lord wants. And the Lord has to deal with that and extract that from my heart and my life and help me to put Him first. Don't be afraid to put the cause of Christ first before yourself and even before your family. Sometimes that is necessary. The Lord Jesus talked about that, didn't he? About the division that would be in families for his sake. If any man leave father and mother, brother, sister, and house and lands, for my sake, he's gonna receive in this life all of these things. with persecution. If you do this, if you put the Lord first, God will meet your need. If we do that as a church, if we do that as a congregation, God will meet our needs. He's already proved this. And he will continue to do this. Consider verse 14. Here's Elijah, not only telling this woman not to be afraid, not only to go and make him a little cake first and bring it to him, but he wanted her to be Thinking not just about his words, but the words of the Lord. Verse 14, for, you could say because, thus saith the Lord God of Israel. The same God you mentioned a minute ago, as the Lord thy God liveth. I'm here to tell you that the Lord God of Israel has said, the barrel of meals shall not waste, neither shall the crews of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. You can take that to the bank. This is the word of the Lord. Stand upon it. Believe it. Fear not. But isn't this what is often wrong with us? We do fear. We're afraid to do God's will. We're afraid to step out and just trust God. The Lord will test you as a Christian to see if you're willing to put him first. That's what the Lord did with Abraham. Here's this son that he's prayed for. The Lord's eventually given him this son. He's now about 17 years of age. And God says, take thy son, thine only son, Isaac, and take him up to a place that I will show thee. And I want you to offer him there for a sacrifice. And Abraham obeyed God. And he laid his son on that altar, and he had that knife poised above that boy that he loved. He was going to plunge it into him, because that's what God wanted him to do, or so he thought. But the angel said, no, stop. See thou do it not. Don't do it. And he looked and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket, and he offered that ram in the stead of Isaac his son. A wonderful type of the gospel, wonderful type of Christ himself. First of all, Isaac is a type of Christ, being willing to go with the Father in conjunction with the Father's will and to offer himself on the altar, willing to give his life. But then the type changes, and Isaac becomes a type of the sinner, whose place is taken by that animal. The Lamb of God is pictured there. He's placed on the altar. He dies in the stead of Isaac. Tremendous picture of Christ, who is our sacrifice. But Abraham, the point is, was willing. He was willing to obey God in that matter. Are we willing to put the Lord first? At the end of Luke's gospel, chapter 9, there are several people who are mentioned, and the Lord speaks of them as an example. Verse 57 of Luke 9, it came to pass that as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. That's a big statement. Wherever you go, Lord, that's where I'm going. I'm following you all the way. "'And Jesus said to him, "'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, "'but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head.'" So are you really willing for that life of privation? We don't see the man's answer then, do we? We don't see that he said, Lord, I'll still follow you. We don't see that. Then the next, verse 59, he said unto another, follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. The operative words are there, me first. Me first. Isn't that often the way it is? It's me first. And you go to the next one in verse 61. Lord, I will follow thee, but let, there's it again, let me first. Go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. Me first. They weren't really willing for the will of God. They weren't really willing to put the Lord first. Are we willing to put the Lord first in everything? When it comes to our giving, are we going to put the Lord first? When it comes to serving, are we going to put the Lord first? When it comes to a conflict between some spiritual activity and some fleshly activity, are we going to choose the spiritual one? Is the Lord first each morning when you rise? Is He the first one you think about? Is He the first one you speak to? Is He the first one you hear from? He should be. Jesus first. But as well as her great trouble and her great trial, I want us to quickly notice her great trust. This may seem to you like a contradiction because I just said that she was pessimistic. But I want you to know that the word that Elijah spoke to her made a difference. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel. And the next verse says this, verse 15, You see, her fear was overcome. Elijah said, fear not, didn't he? Fear not. And so that fear was overcome and she acted in faith. Why? Because I believe she trusted God's word in the matter. She trusted God's word. She heard it from his lips. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel. Here's the word of the Lord. And she stood on that word, and she acted according to that word. This is what faith does. Faith leans entirely upon what God has said. Thus and thus saith the Lord of hosts. What has God said? Am I willing to trust what God has said? Think about the matter of our salvation. Isn't that what we do when we come to Christ? We trust what God has said. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." The Word of God produces faith. It kindles faith. It cultivates faith. That's why we need to read the Word of God, because it's going to increase our faith. There's no use praying to the Lord, Lord, increase my faith, and then you don't read His Word, because His Word is filled with things that will cause you to have faith. You can trust Him. Standing on the promises of Christ our King. Through eternal ages, let his praises ring. Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, standing on the promises of God. Are you standing on the promises of God? What does the Bible say about salvation? Well, it tells us about Christ. Our Savior, how He came into this world born of a virgin. He lived a perfect life of obedience to God's law. He offered that life up in death upon the cross. He made an atonement for our sins. It's recorded in the scripture. And we must believe the record that God has given of His Son. And when we rest entirely, 100%, on His finished work, not on what we can do or what we promise to do, but on what Christ has done, when we rest on that by faith, we are saved. That's how it happens. Upon a life I did not live, upon a death I did not die, another's life, another's death, I rest my soul eternally. That's it. What Christ has done, I trust in that. In Romans chapter 4, we read those words in verse 5. "'But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. '" That is, his faith is a faith which is accounted or reckoned to your account. But after salvation, we must go on living by faith. We must go on trusting God's word, leaning on the promises of God. Elijah himself did this, didn't he? Because in verse nine, Actually, you go back further than that. You go to verse 4. He told him that if you go to the brook Kerith, it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. Elijah had to go there and put that to the test. He didn't know that the ravens were there yet. He just went to that place that God told him to go to, and the Lord met his need. Then he comes down to verse 9. Arise and go to Zarephath, and so on. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. He hasn't met the widow woman yet. He doesn't know where she is, but he's going to that place because God told him to go. He was living by faith. Elijah proved God to be as good as his word. met his need at Kareth, now he's gonna meet his need through this woman. But did the widow trust God? I'm here to tell you that she did. How do we know that she trusted God? Well, she proved it by her actions. That's how you know that somebody believes, when they act accordingly. What did she do? Verse 15, and she went and did according to the saying of Elijah. So obeyed his command to the letter. Obedience is the proof of faith. This is what James himself said in the matter of salvation. In James chapter 2 verse 18. "'Yea, man may say, thou hast faith, and I have works. "'Show me thy faith without thy works, "'and I will show thee my faith by my works.'" It's called the obedience of faith. You may remember that our motto text for this year, and I was not aware of what was going to happen exactly this year, but the Lord directed me to this text, was Hebrews 11, verse 8. "'By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance. Obeyed! And he went out, not knowing whither he went." He obeyed. This is the obedience of faith. It tells us it there. By faith, Abraham obeyed. And it's referring to what happened in Genesis chapter 12. Do we have faith in the Word of God? Think of the words of the widow. Unbelief says, we're going to die. I'm going to go in here. I'm just going to get this handful of meal and this little bit of oil. I'm going to cook that for me and my son, and we're going to die. That's unbelief. Faith says, no, you're not going to die, because my God shall supply all your need. And that's what happened. You think about the word Lord. Elijah used the word Lord, L-O-R-D, in capitals in the English. In the original, in the Old Testament, it is always Jehovah. You know that because I've said it many times. The word Lord, L-O-R-D, or the word God, G-O-D, in large capitals, is always Jehovah in the original Hebrew. Some people say Yahweh, I don't, I say Jehovah. And you know that Jehovah is a word which means the covenant-keeping God. He's the God who keeps His promise. We can trust His word. Her great trouble is here. Her great trial is here. Her great trust is here. Something else about the widow before we finish. Her great testimony. Verse number 16. This is an incredible thing, humanly speaking. But you see, God's Word cannot fail. If God's Word had failed, Elijah would have looked like a fool and a charlatan. He would have been a liar. If he said God's going to meet your need and he didn't, his God would have been a liar, which is impossible. But here's the point. God never filled this barrel of meal to the top. And he did not fill that cruise with oil to the top. I've got some receptacles in my kitchen that belong to my wife. She was always very careful about this kind of flour and that kind of flour and this is powdered sugar and I sometimes mix them up and that's not good. But there's a receptacle there with flour and I have, say, vegetable oil or canola oil or whatever kind of oil. It would be like me having a little tiny bit of oil in the bottom of that canister, just a little bit, just enough to make whatever I'm going to make. And just enough flour, a handful of it, in the bottom of that receptacle. And I would go and take that handful of flour, I'd take that little bit of oil, and then I would make what I was going to make. And the next day, when I go to make the meal, lo and behold, there's a handful of flour in there again, and there's a little bit of oil. That's the way it was. God didn't fill that oil all the way to the top and fill that flour all the way to the top, or whatever it was, the meal. No. Why? Because, give us this day our daily bread. God will meet your need for that day. You don't have a big store and say, well, I don't need to pray now for a month because I've got enough supplies for a month. No, This was something that made this woman exercise faith on a daily basis. Her faith had to be exercised on a daily basis. The cruise of oil was never filled. The barrel of meal was never filled. But the thing is, they were never emptied either. They were never emptied. There was always a handful of meal. There was always a little bit of oil. This is the kind of God that we serve. We think about the manna that the Lord provided to his people in Deuteronomy 33. They gathered the manna on a daily basis. The Lord didn't say, now take your pot and go out there and you get a week's worth of the manna, and you'll have that store to keep in your larder. No, no, no, no. They were to go out every day except on the Sabbath. They were given enough the day before the Sabbath for two days. If they tried to keep the meal over to another day, it bred worms and it sank. Because God is telling them, you must exercise faith on a daily basis. And this is the way it was with the widow woman. On a daily basis, God met her need and that of Elijah and her son. And the widow therefore could testify to the faithfulness of the Lord. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. This was her testimony. She could testify to the truth of His Word. God's Word will never fail. In the book of Joshua, in the chapter 21, we read about this very thing. Joshua 21 and verse 45. There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel all came to pass. Not one word of promise he ever gave to them ever fell to the ground." Not one word. Again, Joshua 23, verse 14. He said, "'And behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth.'" I'm going to die. "'And ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls "'that not one thing hath failed of all the good things "'which the Lord your God spake concerning you. "'All are come to pass unto you, "'and not one thing hath failed thereof.'" What a testimony. The Lord has never let us down. He's never told us something that He has not carried through. He will never give you a promise. that he will not keep. And so, the great testimony of this woman who was tested and tried was that God, the Lord, God of Israel, is Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord will see, or the Lord will provide. That was originally given as a promise to Abraham when he spoke to his son. The Lord will provide. Jehovah-Jireh. You go back to Exodus chapter 16. And you'll see right there, in that chapter, in verse 21, Exodus 16, 21, concerning the manna, and they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating, and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. See that? Every morning. Verse 35. And the children of Israel did eat manna 40 years, Until they came to a land inhabited, they did eat manna until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan." That is incredible. For four decades, they gathered manna on a daily basis, and it was always there. It was always there. The Lord didn't say, well, now, here's a big larder that you can keep for months on end. No, every single day, they had to go out over those 40 years and gather the manna. Isn't that an amazing thing? What provision? Can the same God not meet our every need today? Of course he can. Of course he can. Whatever that need may be, it may be a physical need, it may be a financial need, it may be a spiritual need. There's always those. But we're gonna always be able to testify to the Lord's faithfulness. You've often heard me speak of George Mueller George Muller was so convinced that God would meet his needs that he never took up any offerings in any meetings that he held. He always just had a box at the back. If anyone felt led to put something in that box, that was up to them. And God always met the need. Living by faith, that man was able to operate five orphanages at the same time. Five orphanages. And the Lord provided the food and all that was needed for the children in those orphanages. What a man of God he was, a great man of faith. Once Mueller was on a ship up there, I believe it was in Nova Scotia, and he was on this ship, and the captain was a Christian, and there was a fog that came down, very heavy fog. And Muller told the captain, he said, I need to be in Halifax, Nova Scotia by Friday. And the captain, who was a Christian, he said, Mr. Muller, we're not gonna be in Halifax on Friday. I'm sorry, it's not gonna happen. But then he said to Muller, well, let's pray about it. Muller said, no. You're so full of unbelief. I'm not praying with you. I'm going down to the lower part of the ship and I'm going to pray. Because you've already told me we're not going to be in Halifax on Friday. You don't believe we're going to be in Halifax on Friday. So why would I want to pray with somebody who doesn't believe? He's a straight shooter. And when he went down into the bowels of that ship, he spent time in prayer, and that fog, just as miraculously as could be, was lifted, and they were in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Friday. Here's a man who lived by faith. Now, George Muller wasn't perfect, of course, he wasn't. None of us are perfect. But he believed God's Word, and he believed that promise of God. My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. May God help us to live by faith. Yes, we'll be tried. Yes, we'll be tested. But the Lord will bring us through the test. He'll bring us through the trial. And may we continue to look to His word, knowing that He will fulfil that word. In our case, He will keep His promise.