Confidently Trusting in God’s Provision
Standing in God’s Presence: Finding Confidence in His Word
Have you ever had to make a decision that simply didn’t make sense on paper? Maybe you’re standing at a crossroads in your career, your family, or your finances, and the path forward feels shrouded in mist. We’ve all been there, tossing and turning between what feels like a “good” decision and a “bad” one, only to find ourselves doubting our choice the moment we make it.
There is a profound difference between making a decision based on statistics and making one based on a Word from the Lord. When we move from our own understanding into a Presence-centered perspective, everything changes. We move from a place of confusion to a dimension of absolute confidence.
The Dimension Change: Standing Before the Lord
In 1 Kings 17, we are introduced to Elijah. He was a Tishbite, an outsider, a temporary resident. Yet, he stood before King Ahab, the most powerful man in the nation, and made a startling declaration: “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand…”
Notice that Elijah is not making much of a big deal about the king he was standing in front of; rather he was aware of the God he was standing before. This is the ultimate dimension change for a believer. Whether you are in a boardroom, a hospital room, or sitting in Pretoria traffic, your authority doesn’t come from your status or your surroundings. It comes from the fact that you have stood in the Presence of the Lord.
Learning Trust at the Brook and the Breakthrough
When you know you’ve stood before Him, you can speak to the “kings” and “droughts” of your life with a confidence that outweighs all human logic.
After Elijah confronted the king, God led him into a season of hiddenness. He was sent to the Brook Cherith to be fed by ravens. Think about that for a moment: Elijah had to trust God for his daily bread—literally.
We often read these stories and assume Elijah sat there in perfect, unshakeable peace. But he was human, just like us. He likely woke up every morning watching the horizon, listening for the caw of a raven, wondering, “Are they coming back today?” This is where God fashions our hearts. He teaches us to trust Him for the “day-to-day” before He trusts us with the “nation-to-nation.”
Eventually, the brook dried up. God then sent Elijah to a widow who was preparing her last meal before she and her son lay down to die.
The breakthrough often looks like lack before it looks like abundance. Elijah arrived at a scene of total desperation, yet because he had learned to trust God at the brook, he could teach the widow to trust God in her home. The result? The flour and oil never ran out. When you learn to trust God for your daily bread, He eventually brings you into a place where the provision becomes a perpetual overflow.
Speaking Life into Small Beginnings
Even in the house of miracles, disaster struck. The widow’s son died. It’s a pattern many of us recognise: we see a breakthrough, only for a new catastrophe to hit. In that moment, it’s easy to cry out, “Lord, did You bring me here just to watch this fail?”
Elijah didn’t retreat. He stretched himself out over the child and spoke life. In our lives, we often have “babies”—new businesses, new ministries, or new dreams—that feel like they are dying before they’ve even begun.
If God birthed it, He can breathe on it. Don’t reject the “small beginning” because it looks fragile. Instead, lie on that promise in prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to breathe His life into what has gone cold. It is going to rain again!
The Power of One Promise
Elijah carried one word for three years: It will rain again. In a world filled with a thousand different voices—news reports, social media, and the opinions of others—God is calling us to hold onto one promise. James 1 warns us that if we waver between voices, we are like waves tossed by the sea.
What is the “one word” God has spoken over your life? At our church, we hold onto the word that Africa will be an example of peace to the nations. It doesn’t matter what the “statistics” say; we choose to believe the one voice that matters. If you don’t have a word for your situation, I encourage you: get before the Lord. Don’t leave your place of prayer until you feel that weight of His Spirit confirming a promise. Once you have it, don’t deviate.
Choosing Praise at All Times
Finally, look at David in Psalm 34. He wrote this Psalm after faking madness to escape a Philistine king—spitting on his beard and scratching at doors to save his life. It was a messy, embarrassing situation. Yet, his response was: “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
Praise is a choice to break away from partnering with lies. We often partner with negativity without realising it, miserable and covered in soot because we’ve forgotten who we stand before.
When praise is on your lips, there simply isn’t space for negativity. Praise isn’t just a reaction to a good day; it’s a weapon that reshapes your heart to trust God.
A Transformation of the Heart
The Lord is looking down and fashioning our hearts to trust Him. If you’ve felt a “sniff of hopelessness” lately, it’s a sign that your heart is longing to do what it was designed to do: lean entirely on Him.
May you leave your “Saturday morning prayer” with a word that sustains you. May you walk through the “traffic jams” of life with praise on your lips. And most importantly, may you live with the quiet, unshakeable confidence that you have stood in the Presence of the Lord.
Watch the full message here: https://revivalministry.co.za/latest-teaching/supernatural-provision-elijah/
Related Post: Learn more about Living in God’s Wholeness here: Presence & Encounter
YouVersion Bible: Read the full story of Elijah and the Widow in 1 Kings 17
