1 Worship is the Key

1 Kings 17:
1. And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to [King] Ahab, "As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word."...
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
9 "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."
NKJV

This is a significant incident in the life of Elijah the prophet. He had, at God's direction, proclaimed that there would be no rain in the land for three and a half years. That meant no food would grow and the people and their livestock would starve.

You might be saying, God must be cruel to do this to human beings.

However, the people of Israel had made a treaty or covenant with God that they would worship Him alone, and He would be their God and provide for them abundantly in this land.

There was a big reason why God wanted to make this covenant with His people. This is because, ever since the beginning, there has been a foundational principle which God set in motion, like the universal principle of sowing and reaping.

The second universal principle says this:
who-ever is worshipped and praised, will have authority over that geographical area.

Knowing this principle was active in the earth, God told them that if they would worship Him exclusively, and forget about other lesser gods, there would be nothing blocking His abundance from reaching them.

Instead they worshipped all the lesser gods, and were unfaithful to the God who loved them and wanted to bless them.
In mercy therefore, He allowed the downside of His treaty with them to go into effect. He did this because, the quickest way to get the attention of people is to cut off their supply of food and water.

Sometimes, when we are distressed by human tragedy, we cry out angrily, "How could a loving God allow such a terrible thing to happen?!"

One reason could be this: people refused to worship the God of heaven who loves them, and instead have worshipped lesser gods, and by doing this have opened the door to poverty, lack and tragedy in their lives.

The answer isn't to get angry and curse at God. The answer is to turn our hearts back in His direction, ask forgiveness for leaving Him out of our lives and seek His mercy for our tragedy.

Prayer:
Father, if I have worshipped lesser gods and thereby blocked Your blessings from my life, forgive me and help me to turn my life in Your direction and commit myself to Your purpose for me,
in Jesus' name,
Amen.