There are seasons when God asks us to move. Not always physically—but spiritually, emotionally, and deep within the hidden places of our hearts. Honestly, I have to take a deep breath when the Lord leads me into seasons of learning, refining, and deep digging.
For the past year, the Lord has been teaching me to trust Him. In my walk with Jesus, He pulled some things out quickly. Some left with a simple “aha” moment. Others left with tears—deep releases where I exhaled lies and inhaled God’s truth. Some moments carried quiet repentance, simply whispering, “Lord, please forgive me.”
But this season has been different. This one has come layer upon layer.
At first, it was subtle. The Lord began uncovering pride in me. Not loud or arrogant pride—but the kind that whispers:
“I have to hold everything together.”
“If I don’t do it, no one will.”
“I need to make sure the money keeps coming”
“I need to tell my husband what jobs to take”
“I need to make sure my kids get everything right”
“I need to figure this all out.”
I remember talking with God during that season, and realized how loud my “I” had become. Every time I prayed, it seemed to lead the conversation. Things I wanted, needed, thought, and felt I should do.
Each time, the Holy Spirit would gently stop me. I would pause, apologize, and surrender those thoughts back to Him.
At the end of that season, the Lord asked me one simple question: “Do you trust Me?” My automatic response was, “No.” That was exactly a year ago.
Today, as I write this, we are selling our home, moving, and trusting Him. We are stepping forward even when everything about the situation looks impossible. God reminds me this is His plan. His ways and thoughts rise far above mine.
Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.” And Isaiah 55:8 says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways…”
Learning Trust from Elijah’s Story
Even with those promises, I still struggled. For about a week, I watched the world moving around me while I felt directionless. Everything felt heavy and uncertain. Yet I knew the Lord is not a God of confusion or chaos.
So I sat. And cried. Then the Lord gently led me to Elijah. Did you know Elijah’s name means, “Yahweh is my God”?
God told Elijah to leave and travel to the Brook Cherith, east of the Jordan. The name Cherith comes from a Hebrew word meaning “to cut off,” “to cut down,” or “to separate.”
I could not help but see the parallel. Sometimes God leads us into seasons that feel like separation. He cuts away our pride, comfort, distractions, and even the false sense of control we cling to.
Elijah left everything familiar to live beside a brook. He drank its water and was fed by ravens – birds considered unclean under the Law. Yet God used even ravens to provide for His servant. What stands out here is not how God provided. It is how Elijah responded. He went. He did not argue or explain why it made no sense. He simply obeyed.
I wonder how often I delay because I want God to explain Himself before I trust Him. Elijah reminds me that obedience does not begin when we understand God’s plan. It begins when we trust His heart.
Then something else happens — the brook dried up. That detail stopped me.
Because sometimes the brook dries up in our lives too. Health dries up, relationships dry up, jobs and finances dry up, and dreams dry up. We easily place our confidence in the brook instead of the One who provides. We assume the brook will always flow, but at times, God allows it to dry up to remind us where our true source has always been.
When the brook dried up, Elijah did not ask God to keep the water flowing. He listened for what God would say next.
From Cutting Away to Refining
In 1 Kings 17:9, the Lord gave Elijah another instruction: “Go at once to Zarephath.” The name Zarephath means “refinery” or “smelting place.” Elijah left the place of cutting away and stepped into the place of refining.
And where did God send him? To the region of Jezebel. To a poor widow and her son, and a situation that, humanly speaking, made no sense. I can almost imagine Elijah asking, Lord… how could this possibly get worse?
Is that not what obedience feels like? Just when we think we have trusted God enough, He asks us to take another step. Not because He is trying to make life harder, but because He is inviting us to depend on Him more deeply.
A few years ago, the Lord gave me a dream about bison. Unlike most animals, bison don’t run from storms. They turn and walk into storms, passing through them more quickly than if they had fled.
That picture has stayed with me, and I believe that’s what God has been teaching me all along.
Stop running. Stop trying to control every outcome, and stop exhausting yourself trying to predict every outcome.
Turn toward God. Trust Him enough to walk into the storm with Him.
Because here’s the truth: God’s promises are yes and amen. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Author and Finisher of our faith.
Jesus never promised an easy road. He told us we would face trials, and there would be suffering, pruning, and refining. But He also cannot lie. If He cannot lie, then His promises are fully trustworthy.
And many of those promises are experienced through obedience. If He says, “Go,” we go. Not because it’s easy, but because we trust Him.
Moving With God
God will meet our needs. Sometimes He draws us apart so He can teach us deep heart lessons we could never learn amid the noise.
Maybe that’s where you are today. Maybe your brook has dried up. And maybe God is cutting something away.
Friend, don’t run from the storm. Turn toward the Lord in the middle of it. Stop trying to figure everything out, stop clinging to control, and quit depending on the brook.
Trust the One who provided it.
Because the same God who led Elijah to Cherith also sustained him in Zarephath. He will sustain you, too.
