Today's Scripture
1 Kings 17:8-16 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now 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.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
17:8-10a Elijah was running from King Ahab. He feared for his life because he had delivered the message of God – 17:1 “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” Ahab had killed many prophets of the Lord of Israel and persistently sought to kill Elijah as well.
17:10b-14 Even so Elijah obeyed God and dodged Ahab traveling outside of Israel to Sidon (north of Israel along the Mediterranean). There he found a destitute widow God had chosen to sustain Elijah.
17:13-14 Elijah asked the widow, who was preparing her last meal, to share the meal with him. He offered a ray of hope – if you do this, your jar of flour will never be empty, and your oil jar will never be dry until the drought is over. For evidently, the surrounding lands suffered along with Israel.
17:15-16 The widow having little to lose, fed Elijah and experienced the joy of living in God’s providence.
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What does this passage mean to me/us
We may have meager means to live on. We may not be “gifted.” However, when we offer what we have to God, by His eternal grace , He supplies our needs. “He is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, according to the Power at work in us. Ephesians 3:20 This widow told Elijah – “Let’s be clear – this is the little bit that I have.” Good! God wants us to recognize what we have. Then the widow took a leap of faith and obeyed Elijah. What did she have to lose? When we are not distracted by wealth and self-sufficiency we can see God’s rich blessings more clearly.
We face similar choices every day. Like Elijah, we can offer the grace of God to those who do not know what He can do for them.? Like the widow of Sidon, God wants us to be bold with whatever portion we are given and use it expecting not to wither away and die, but to LIVE abundantly. What hoarding of grace are we guilty of because we do not encourage others to seek the Lord?
- Contributed by Steph Dickenson
Prayer
Oh God of unexpected unlimited power and provision open our eyes today. Help us see and then seize the opportunities you have placed in our paths to draw others into You Light. Give us courage to give generously, maybe even foolishly. For the more we give, in Your Holy Name, the more we will have to give. AMEN
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