2 - 3 ~ The word of the Lord told Elijah what to do. God's word can give us direction.1Ki 17:2-9 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, (3) Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. (4) And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. (5) So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. (6) And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. (7) And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. (8) And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, (9) Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
4 - 6 ~ God assures Elijah that he will be taken care of. God provides a brook for drink and the ravens to deliver food.
7 ~ The brook dried up, and Elijah watched it dry up...and he was still there.
8 ~ Then word of the Lord came to him again...
9 ~ God told him to move.
It is noteworthy that Elijah stayed where he was until the Lord told him to move. God had proven his provision through the brook.....and it dried up! It is easy to watch things in our lives dry up right in front of us and then question God about why He would let that happen, or wonder if we heard Him right the first time. We start trying to "make" things happen, stress out, come up with contingency plan after contingency plan, lose sleep, and talk about it until we are sick of hearing ourselves talk about it.
It is best to make sure it is the word of the Lord moving us in the first place; so when things dry up we know we are standing where the Lord put us, and also making sure we are continuing to listen for it just in case He wants to move us. Per His Promises those are the only two options: provide for us or move us to the provision.
