1 Kings 17:7-16

⁷ Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. ⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ⁹ “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” ¹⁰ 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?” ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” ¹² “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 olive 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.” ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ 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.’”¹⁵ She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. ¹⁶ 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.

This is the story of two people who would never have met if not for God who made their paths to cross. God also shows us in this story the issue of obedience on both sides. When your destiny is tied to someone else’s be sure to recognise it and obey as the Lord leads you.

At the time of this story, Israel, was going through a severe famine as rain had not fallen in the land for a while. Elijah had decreed for rain not to fall because of the sins of Ahab and Jezebel. After using the ravens to feed him and the brook had dried up, God send Elijah to a gentile, widow.

In verse 8, God commanded Elijah to make his way to Zarephath, a town outside of Israel, where He Lord had earmarked a widow to take care of him, by giving him food. Elijah did as the Lord told him and found a woman gathering sticks at the town gate. As we see in verses 11-12, Elijah, asks her for bread.

I can’t imagine what it must have been like for her son and herself. They were about to eat their last meal and wait for death. But God Almighty had a better plan for her and her son.

They were victims of a widespread famine, and there was no place to go and nothing to do about their plight. She had faced the reality of their coming demise. She would take her little pot of flour and the little bit of oil she had left, gather some sticks, make a little cake, eat this final meal with her son and lay down to die. She had lost hope and we can see it in the way she responded to Elijah, in verse 12.

The widow did as Elijah said. And afterward? Her flour jar never became empty and her oil jar never ran dry just as God had promised. In fact, the widow, her family and Elijah had food through the entire multi-year drought.

This gentile widow, did not know that God in His sovereign mercy had decided to bless her beyond what she could every imagine. Even though people had forgotten her, maybe because of the famine at the time but God had not forgotten and He will not forget you reading this right now.

The package might not look like what you want or what you think God will give you but be careful to not turn away God’s blessings for you all because it does not look like what you think or expect it to look like. Elijah knew God well enough to not question God, when He told him, He had prepared a widow, (a gentile, a none-believer) to give him food. But the gentile widow did not know God and yet she obeyed Elijah.

God had chosen this weak and broken lady to be part of something that would influence people of faith down through eternity. God had chosen to not only give her life, but to declare through her that he is the Resurrection and the Life.

Lessons to learn when in desperation

1. God always has a plan for our future.
2. The end of our desperation is the beginning of God’s miracle.
3. The word ‘impossible’ does not exist with our God.
4. Before abundance, you will experience the test of lack.

When we are hopeful in God, He will supply our needs and open doors of opportunities unto us. Be sure to trust the Provider, and not the provision. Brooks dry up but God never fails. Could I ask you to not lose hope and to keep on believing God?. He is faithful and just.

PRAYER POINTS

Father Lord, open my eyes to the needs of others in my time in need in the name of Jesus.

Father God may I not miss your time of visitation in Jesus name.

Father Lord, help me to not disobey your instructions in the name of Jesus.

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