Elijah: A Man Just Like Us - Part 6

1 Kings 17v10-16

Last time, we read:

1 Kings 17v10-12
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."

Last time, we looked at this story from Elijah's point of view but, this time, we'll look at it from the widow's perspective.

She was past hope. She expected only one more meal before she and her son died of starvation. And, while gathering sticks for a fire to cook that last meal on, she saw a foreigner (to her) - an Israelite, walking in through the gate. Elijah would have been tired, hungry, thirsty and dirty, after walking all the way from the Kerith Ravine. He would not have been an impressive sight.

And yet the widow agreed to his request to fetch him some water. There was goodness in her heart, even at a time when many people would be thinking only about their own problems. Then Elijah asked her for food. She only had enough for one last meal with her son, and she told him so. Then:

1 Kings 17v13-14
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.'"

How should she react? How dare this foreigner ask a starving widow for food? And he calls himself a man of God! But she agrees. Why?

Put yourself in her shoes. She had two options: keep the remaining food to herself - in which case she and her son would certainly starve; or trust the man of God.

There are many stories of people who have been the victims of "religious" conmen - cheated by people who claim to be serving God. You could understand it if she chose not to trust this one. But her only hope of salvation was that the man of God was honest - and right. So she - I think - took a step of faith. She couldn't be sure of receiving help from God, but it was the only chance she had.

And sometimes, we obey God's word without fully understanding it, and without proof that God will help us, because we know that we need God. That is, we choose to trust Him because we've run out of alternatives.

1 Kings 17v15-16
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. 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.

Elijah was a man just like us, and the widow was a woman just like us. She put her faith in God because she knew she needed to. And God provided everything she needed.

And the truth is that we also have limited resources. We will come to the end of our ability to look after ourselves. There are some battles we cannot win, some needs we cannot meet. It's the grace of God to us when we realise that we need Him in our lives. And, Jesus promised:

John 6v37
whoever comes to me I will never drive away