Thursday, November 9, 2023

Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf 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 sends rain on the land.’”

1 Kings 17:13-14

Today we visit one of my favorite bible characters: the widow of Zarephath. In 1 Kings 17, God led the prophet Elijah to the Brook of Cherith where the ravens fed him. Verse 7 says, “And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.” God then says in verse 9, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” There, he finds a widow gathering sticks. He asked her for bread. She replied, “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.” Elijah directed her to make a cake for him and told her that her flour and oil would not run out until the Lord sent rain. She did as she was told. Verse 16 says, “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.”

Is there a lesson here? Certainly. God sometimes uses unlikely people to accomplish his purpose. And sometimes God’s miracles only come after an act of our faith. (The extension of the widow’s food supply was a miracle, but the miracle only came after she prepared a meal for Elijah—a faith act on her part.)

PRAYER: Lord, I admit that when I am “going through,” sometimes it’s hard to think of others—especially those I may think are incapable of being used by you. Help me to look beyond myself and my situation, to give as your Spirit leads me, to understand that you can use anyone, and to act on faith. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.