God sometimes gives His people fresh promises “by faith,” just before
a trial is about to come upon them. It was so with Elijah. God said to
him, “Go to the brook Cherith; behold, I have commanded the ravens to
feed thee there.” This was at the beginning of the famine. There he
abode, and God fulfilled the promise, for by faith Elijah had obtained
it. Acting upon faith, still dependent upon God, he abides at Cherith,
and as the result of this faith, God gives him a fresh promise, “Arise,
get thee to Zarephath–I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.” The faith which received the first promise, obtained the honor of
a second. So with us. If we have had a little promise, and up till now
have realized it; if we have lived upon it and made it the stay and
support of our souls, surely God will give us another and a greater one.
And so, from promise to promise speeding our way, we shall find the
promises to be rounds of the ladder which Jacob saw, the top whereof
shall reach to heaven. Doubt and be distrustful about the promise which
you have, and you cannot expect God to increase His revelation to your
soul. Be afraid and unbelieving about that promise which was laid to
your heart yesterday, and you shall not have a new one to-morrow. But
act in simple faith upon what God has already given you, and you shall
go from strength to strength, receiving grace upon grace, and promise
upon promise. The Spirit of God shall whisper into your soul some
promise which shall come home with as much power as though an angel from heaven had spoken it to you, and you shall “through faith” obtain
promises which before were beyond your reach.