1 Kings17:1-9 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 The word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3 “Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. 7 It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
God even uses the unclean things that come into our lives to accomplish His purpose is in us, for us, and through us. To the Jew, ravens were unclean and were to be avoided. That, of course, is also true concerning gentiles, yet, God has ravens bring food to Elijah, and uses a gentile widow to provide for him at Zerapheth.
In this fallen world, there are a lot of unclean things that impact our lives as a result of circumstances, demonic warfare, and the behavior of others. I understand fully that during demonic attacks we are to stand, refusing what the enemy brings, while we decree the victory of Christ. Even in that though, the battle is still allowed to approach our lives. The point I’m trying to make is that even those things that touch our lives that are the result of this fallen world, are used by God to advances us in His purposes, even if it’s to teach us how to do spiritual battle, as He prepares us to reign with Christ as His eternal bride. The ravens were necessary for Elijah to advance in God’s purposes, as was as the Gentile widow.
Our God is good, and even the unclean things of this fallen world are filtered through His goodness before they can touch our lives. No wonder the Scripture says, “give thanks in all things,” and, “rejoice in the Lord always.”