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 to 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.’ ” 1 Kings 17: 13, 14, NIV
Dear LORD, some commands call for much greater faith on our part than others. Please help us to gain this faith as we sit in Your presence and learn from You; in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen
This was a time of famine. Israel’s sin had shut up the windows of heaven. They were experiencing a terrible drought; and there would be no rain, until, under God’s directions, Elijah gave the command. God sent Elijah to Zarephath, to a widow, for her to feed him. He arrives in the city, sees a widow gathering sticks, and asks her for a piece of bread; her response does not sound like one who has been “commanded … to supply [him] with food” (9). “I don’t have any bread …” (12) was her reply.
Sensing her fear of the unknown, he tries to set her mind at ease, “Don’t be afraid” of not having enough to take care of your needs and those of your son. “[T]he LORD, the God of Israel, says,” that your needs will be supplied. Notice that Elijah did not rebuke her hesitance as a lack of faith. Instead He gives her something on which to rest her faith, “… the God of Israel says.” Do not take my word for it; God has spoken!
According to Scripture, she obeyed the words of the prophet, and they had food throughout the entire drought. Like the widow of Zarephath, we are often afraid to dispense with the little we have. Nevertheless, what I have found to be true every time, is that when God asks us for our “little,” he is usually making space for His “big!” She had to keep using up the little she had, in order to make room for the fresh supply of flour and oil that God would be providing every day!
So one of the lessons we can learn from our story today is, not to be afraid to put what we have, in the hand of God. In her hands the handful of flour would have remained a handful of flour, and in one day would have been depleted (12, 13). In God’s hand, it multiplied and became much! So much that it lasted for the three and a half years of famine.
Another lesson we can learn from this story, is that, with God, the size of your possession is not important. It is your willingness to surrender, or use, whatever you have, so that God might receive the honor and the glory. In this lesson, it was not the prophet, but the widow, whose possessions brought glory to God. The prophet was the facilitator to put her faith in motion.
May God help us to be willing to be used by Him; however He chooses, to bring glory to Himself!