“Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead said to Ahab, ‘As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word… Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him: Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
“As surely as the LORD your God lives”, she replied, “I don’t have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it – and die.”
Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it tom me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.’
She went away and did as Elijah told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.”
1 Kings 17
“As surely as the LORD your God lives”, she replied, “I don’t have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it – and die.”
Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it tom me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.’
She went away and did as Elijah told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.”
1 Kings 17
There is so much here. I encourage you to go to your own Bible and soak up the words for yourself. Here are just a few thoughts that have been fermenting in my mind…
Israel was being ruled by two evil people. Perhaps you’ve heard of them… Ahab and Jezebel (yeah the woman who was later eaten by dogs). Israel had turned from God. God wanted them back, but first he had to get their attention. Enter Elijah. Elijah was a prophet… which basically means that he was God’s PR guy, His microphone. God tasked Elijah wit
h bringing Israel a message of repentance and forgiveness. In order that this message could be heard over the cacophony of lies, God sent a famine to humble and quiet the people.This obviously left Elijah with a need… a real physical need for support during his time of ministry. At first God used nature to provide for His messenger, but when that gave out God used what He always uses to provide for His children… people. But this is where the story gets a little bit uncomfortable for me. I am in totally in line with God when He says He will cause ravens to bring you food every day. I mean it is a little weird, but God is God. If He says an octopus is going to walk across the Sahara on his eight tentacles to serve me filet mignon on a shiny platter, I will believe Him.
However, I always innately struggle with God’s idea to send Elijah into a gentile country to a starving widow and her son for provision. I wonder if Elijah had the same struggle. He sees the widow God has promised to provide. He believes in God, so he takes the first step. He asks the widow to bring him some water. Seeing that she is willing to do this much for him, perhaps he musters up his courage, swallows his pride, and calls out to her as she is walking away. He asks
her also for bread...To which she replies she can’t. She has nothing. She is about to prepare the very last handful of flour and oil for the very last meal she ever expects to eat. In my Bible there is even a hyphen for effect, “that we may eat it – and die”. You can almost hear the catch in her throat. She is out of hope. She is about to sentence her son to the long, painful death of starvation.
But here is the great part. Elijah assures her that if she joins with him in this huge step of faith, she will have no need to fear the future. God will make sure that the flour jar never empties and the oil jug never runs dry. The widow took that step, and God did provide…. every day! In fact, later on her son became deathly ill. When he stopped breathing Elijah was there, and because of his prayer of faith God brought the son back to life.
Because of their faith Elijah, the widow, and the widow’s son witnessed God’s life saving provision in the everyday things and in huge unexpected ways as well.
Ok… so why did I want you to take time out of your facebook surfing to read this? You also have been chosen for something. You are Elijah in this story. You need to be provided for. God is the provider. He uses people to provide, and often it is the people you would least expect. Don’t be afraid to ask people to join you in this huge step of faith. You will both witness amazing things when you do.
