“Wrong place, wrong time.” All of us have experienced that in one way or another.
But there is actually a biblical principle that is just the opposite of that, and it’s being in the right place at the right time. Let me explain what I mean.
As you look at Scripture, one of the principles you will come to see is that to receive God’s provision, you need to be in the right place. This is a truth I’ve come to embrace—just how important it is to be in the right place.
A great example of this truth is found in 1 Kings 17. It begins in verses 1-4:
And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.” Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
The first thing to note is that God tells Elijah He has provision awaiting him in a particular location, “I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
In verses 5-6, we are told:
So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.
Now, the ravens wouldn’t have fed him just anywhere. God said, “I’ve commanded the ravens to feed you there.” And I believe God has a “there” for every single one of us.
If Elijah had gone to another brook, he would have missed the blessing. It was by the Brook Cherith that God commanded the ravens to come.
Years ago, after I’d been ministering in Belfast, I was flying from Belfast back to L.A. There are no direct flights out of Belfast, which meant we had to go through London.
We got to the airport an hour before the flight was to leave. When I got to the ticket counter, the woman looked at me and said, “Sir, you’re at the wrong airport.” I said, “What?” She said, “Yeah, if you want to fly to London, you need to catch a taxi and head across town to the other airport.”
So we got a taxi, and we were able to get on the flight and make it home. To get home, first we had to be in the right place!
Being in the right place is an important thing, because as verses 7-9 tell us:
And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
Notice that in both places, God commanded a blessing. God commanded the ravens, and God commanded the widow. I believe when we’re in the right place, God commands provision to come.
He will command a company to give you a job. He will command doors of favor and blessing to open for you. He will use ravens and widows if He has to.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be trials. That doesn’t mean you won’t go through a rough patch now and again. But when we are in our “there” place, we can expect God’s provision in our life. May God bless you!
