We are designed to live in the supernatural. As we go about our days, following our regular routines and plans, it can be easy to forget that there is an unseen world around us.
Scripture is full of examples of the supernatural interacting with the natural — we see miracles take place, unexplainable provision and favor, encounters with angels, and so many more. The supernatural realm is just as real as what we can see.
We are not called to live a natural, mundane life. We came from a realm that is supernatural, and everything about who we are is supposed to be supernatural.
I Kings 17:8-16 is a story about the prophet Elijah. It gives us a glimpse of living in the supernatural.
“Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.’ So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, ‘Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.’ And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, ‘Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.’
So she said, ‘As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.’
And Elijah said to her, ‘Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel: “The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.”
So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.”
If we were to continue reading Elijah’s story, we see many times that “the word of the Lord” came to him. A word from God can radically transform our lives — it brings divine revelation, instruction, and strategy. God is still actively speaking to us, often giving us words that require our attention. As we take note of the words of the Lord in this passage, it leads us to reflect on two significant questions.
1. Do you know your “there?"
In this passage, many people were worshiping a god named Baal, who was believed to be the god of the sky. To show that Yahweh was the one and only God, Elijah declared a drought over the land, and there was no rain for over three years.
After Elijah declared the drought, scripture tells us that the word of the Lord came to Elijah with instructions to travel to a specific location. The resources Elijah needed were waiting for him there just as God promised — ravens brought him food and he had water from the brook. God’s supernatural provision was connected to a “there.”
Throughout our lives, God will tell us to go “there.” He calls us to different places in different seasons and has everything we need prepared for us when we arrive. Just like the word of the Lord came to Elijah, it’s God’s word that gives us access to know our “there.” This is why it’s vital that we intimately know God’s voice. In a time when deception is all around us, we have to be able to discern what God is saying and where he’s directing us to go. God is alive and active, speaking to each of us individually and personally, but we will be casualties of deception if we don’t believe that we can hear from God for ourselves. If we avail ourselves to the Lord, spending time in the secret place and learning his nature, we will become more and more familiar with the sound of his voice.
There are supernatural possibilities waiting for us in our “there.”
2. Do you know who you really are?
Eventually, the brook dried up, and the word of the Lord came to Elijah again with another instruction — to go to the widow in Zarephath.
I Kings 17:9 says, “See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” The word “command” literally means to ordain or appoint — long before Elijah and the widow ever met, God had ordained their interaction.
Psalm 139:16 reads, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Long before we ever came into existence, God set apart every one of our days. God wants us to know who we really are — the version of us that lives in the supernatural. The current version of us just needs to catch up.
Because the Holy Spirit is a gentleman who doesn’t force us into action, there are moments when God’s commands can seem more like suggestions. It can feel like it’s no big deal to delay our obedience. If we choose to procrastinate, we have to pause and ask ourselves if we know the cost of living a lie. Anything beneath the word of God is not only a lie — it’s the path to death.
But we can take hold of this: when we step in obedience, we step into grace. Heaven backs us up in the place we are meant to be. God gives us divine strategy and empowerment as he leads us into the version of ourselves that he ordained long ago. Who we are, the real us, has already been written. And when we choose obedience, we place our feet on the pathway to supernatural possibilities.
