KEY TAKEAWAY: TRUSTING IN GOD THROUGH OBEDIENT  GENEROSITY LEADS TO EXTRAVAGANT BLESSING. 

Do I know AND trust the faithfulness of God? 

1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the  God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 And the word of the Lord came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith,  which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have  commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to  the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of  the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning,  and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 And after  a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. 8 Then the  word of the Lord came to him, 9“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to  Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed  you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate  of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her  and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she  was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread  in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing  baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am  gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my  son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go  and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to  me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus  says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the  jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the  earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the  jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by  Elijah. 1 Kings 17:1-16 NLT 

▪ We should always seek the Giver more than we do the Gift. 

• In a season of drought, Elijah had to trust that God could keep the brook flowing. 

24b…the LORD upholds [my] hand.25 I have been young, and now am  old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.26 He is ever lending generously, and his children  become a blessing. Psalm 37:24b-26 ESV 

▪ Focus on the solution, not the problem. 

▪ The faithfulness of God to provide will always be enough for me to  follow Him no matter what. 

▪ Obedience enables us to be extravagantly generous. 

▪ God-math will never make sense to us. 

▪ Stewardship is the investment we sow now into a generation that  will lead later. 

It is NOT your resources that enables you to be generous. It is your  faith in God that enables you to be generous. 

12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the  secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty,  with plenty or little.13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me  strength. Philippians 4:12-13 NLT 

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory  in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 ESV 

▪ It takes stewardship and generosity of all sizes to see the Kingdom  of advance. 

Next steps… 

• Experience the generosity of God through salvation in Jesus  Christ. 
• Be generous with your resources. 
• Be generous with your purpose. 
• Pray and ask God to show you his faithfulness.