“Today I will tell you about a man named Obadiah,” said Grandpa. “We don’t know if he had a family, but we will pretend he did. His children shall be Betty and Jonas. The story is called,

When There Was No Rain

(Reference: 1 Kings 18.)

Betty and Jonas lived with their family in the land of Israel. They loved God and obeyed Him. Their father, Obadiah, worked in the king’s palace. He was a good man, but his job was not a fun one. The king and queen of the land were very wicked. Instead of obeying God, they served a stone idol called Baal. King Ahab built a house for Baal and told all the people to worship it. Queen Jezebel was even more wicked. She wanted to kill all the prophets of the true God.

In Betty and Jonas’s home, their father taught them to love God and to pray to Him. All their neighbors prayed to Baal, but Betty and Jonas knew he was not real. Once their father, Obadiah, helped the prophets of God. When the queen planned to kill them, he hid one hundred of them in some caves. Betty and Jonas helped take bread and water to them. It was a very dangerous thing to do, but they trusted God to take care of them.

Then something dreadful happened. There was no rain for days and days. The grass got brown and died. Still it did not rain, and the brooks got dry and the animals began to die. A prophet of God had come to king Ahab and told him that there would be no dew or rain. “How can we live without water?” Jonas asked his father. “We will trust God,” he said. Betty helped her mother hunt for firewood. Jonas walked all the way to the river to bring jugs of water. They prayed and waited.

Ever since the prophet Elijah had come, King Ahab had searched everywhere to find him. The king got angrier and angrier. The prophet had just disappeared, and now the whole land was drying up and the people were starving. King Ahab called Obadiah and made plans to take the animals out to find water somewhere. Betty and Jonas were very sad to see their father go, for he would be gone many days. Again they prayed that God would help and take care of them.

When their father came home, how glad they were! He had good news to tell. He had met prophet Elijah on the road, and the king had come and talked to him. They were going to have a big meeting on Mount Carmel.

It was not long until everyone was gathered on the mountain. Betty and Jonas were excited as they stood in the crowds and listened as the prophet spoke. “How long will you wait to choose? If the Lord is God, follow Him, but if Baal is, then follow him.” Everyone watched the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal make an altar and pray to him. Prophet Elijah said that the God who sent fire was the real God. All day the Baal-followers yelled and cut themselves, but nothing happened.

At evening the prophet of God built an altar of stones, put wood on it, and told men to pour water over it. When the prophet prayed to the Lord of Heaven, a great fire came down and burnt all of the altar and water up! “The Lord, He is God!” the people shouted. So the prophets of Baal were killed, and that same day God sent rain.

When Grandpa finished the story, he asked, “How do you think Betty and Jonas felt at the end?”

“They were probably very glad,” said Alice.

“Yes, ’cause now there was rain again,” said Sammy.

“Do you think it must have been hard to just wait and trust God those three years?” asked Grandpa.

“Maybe,” said Edward. “Because nothing was happening.”

“Maybe their animals died and they were sad,” suggested Sammy.

“They could have thought that it wasn’t any use following God,” said Alice. “But they did anyway, although they had lots of troubles.”

“Then God sent the fire and rain,” said Sammy.

Grandpa smiled, “Yes, and we need to trust Him like that when we have troubles. God is real, and He does take care of those that obey Him.”