1 Kings 17:2-4 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3 Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
God’s servants must learn to walk by faith–one step at a time. This is a simple lesson, yet one that challenges even the most faithful. Consider Elijah: before he left his quiet home in Thisbe to stand before King Ahab with the word of the Lord, how many questions must have stirred his heart!
What would happen after he delivered his message? How would Jezebel, known for slaying God’s prophets, respond? Where could he go to be safe? If Elijah had waited for answers to all these questions, he would never have begun the journey.
But this is not how our loving Father leads His children. He does not show us the entire path at once. He reveals only the next step and invites us to take it in faith. And if we ask, “Lord, what will happen next? Won’t this path lead to difficulty?” He often gives no other reply than this: “Take the step, and trust Me.”
And so it was with Elijah. After he obeyed and delivered God’s word to Ahab, then the next direction came: “Get thee hence…hide thyself by the brook Cherith.” Later, only after the brook ran dry, did the Lord speak again: “Arise, get thee to Zarephath.” Each instruction came at the right time, no sooner, no later.
Notice this: Elijah did not need to search for God’s word; it came to him. And so it will come to you. Whether through Scripture, the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit, or the unfolding of circumstances — God’s direction will find you. Like Saul on the road to Damascus, we must simply ask, “Lord, what will you have me to do?” and trust that He will reveal it.
Perhaps you have long sensed God urging you toward a particular act of obedience, but you have hesitated because the next step is unclear. Do not delay. Step forward in faith. What appears to be mud will become solid ground beneath your feet. With each step, God will provide a firm place to stand, a new word, a fresh supply. The bread is given daily. The manna comes each morning. The strength arrives at the moment of need.
God gives no more than we can bear at once. He teaches us, little by little, to walk in the peace of obedience and the joy of trust. So take the step before you today. He is faithful. The next stepping stone will appear just when you need it.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
More Devotions
A young couple was visiting a renown jewelry store in New York City. They browsed through cases of magnificent diamonds with their gleaming yellow light along with many other splendid precious stones. Among those beautiful stones, one in particular caught his wife’s eye.
When I first gave my life to the Lord, like many of us, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. If God would have shown me, at that time, all the things that would have to change about me, I think I would have gone running for dear life!
An Indian was walking in downtown New York City alongside a resident friend. As they approached a busy street corner in the center of Manhattan, the Indian seized his friend’s arm and whispered, “Wait. I hear a cricket.” “Come on!”, the city boy sneered, “This is downtown New York — how could you possibly hear a cricket?” His friend persisted however, “No – seriously, I do!”
It must have been a bad storm. These men were experienced, hardened sailors who had seen it all at sea. If they were scared, this could have been the first “perfect storm” since Noah’s flood. So they started the first interfaith prayer meeting in the Bible, each man crying out to his own god. As the ship groaned and creaked in howling wind and massive waves, and the men threw cargo overboard in a desperate attempt to save it, where was Jonah? On deck helping them? Confidently praying to His own God? Shaking with fear and paralyzed with deep conviction? No, he’s taking a nap down below…
So the captain came to Jonah, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.” At this point the captain (who probably worshiped Baal and Yamm, god of the sea) has more faith than Jonah.
While most read the story of Jonah focusing on Jonah’s journey, I want to pause and examine the lives of the pagan sailors. What a journey they were on! We see the hand of God touching them providentially through Jonah’s disobedience. Talk about God bringing good from evil.
Jonah now acknowledges that God put him where he is, and he accepts His discipline. “Sheol” is the “grave”, the “pit” or the “abode of the dead”. Did Jonah die, or was he only nearly dead from three days of fish stomach acid, and little or no air? The text doesn’t say; only that if he didn’t actually leave his body, he came as close as a man can get to it; three days worth. In this nebulous and miserable place Jonah cried out, probably from the deepest depths of his agonized soul…he cried out to the Lord.