Being faithful to God can be difficult. Often God doesn't ask us to give Him what we
have an abundance of. It doesn't take
much faith to do that. In order to be
faithful, He may ask us to give Him all we have…or a good portion of what we
have…or give more than we are willing at the time. He may ask us to do that in places where we
think that just isn't possible. We don't
see that this can be good…we aren't sure it will all work out. We get nervous.
God calls us to be obedient with what He has given us. That means that we realize that full
ownership of all we have belongs to Him and so we have to be willing in a
moment's notice to give all He asks back to Him…trusting that He will take care
of us when we are faithful.
That is what is going on with a widow in the message
today. Let's look at just a portion of
the journey for Elijah and how this widow is asked to give of her all. 1 Kings 17.
This is a powerful reminder of who God is. The God that we serve is not powerless or at
our beckon call to have something happen.
God is in control and has plans for us if we are faithful to Him.
Let's notice just a little of what is going on in today's
scripture:
1 - Elijah is depending on God daily for
his provisions. That
couldn't have been easy. What could he
have been thinking as the water was drying up in the brook…as he watched that
happen daily? What had to be on his mind
as God instructed him to go to a widow for his next set of provisions? God feeling the Israelite children wondering
in the wilderness comes to mind for me…daily provisions by trusting.
2 – The widow is hopeless but willing.
The widow that he is going to see…she has given up
hope. Her bin is practically empty. She doesn't have anyone to lean on. She doesn’t have anywhere else to go. She is looking at the end. And Elijah shows up requesting what little
she has.
She could have refused knowing that what little was in her
bin was for her and her son. That could
have been the end for her. But, because
she was willing to be obedient and faithful to what God has asked her to do,
her needs were met as well.
When she gave of what she had, God met her needs. The bin of flour was not used up. Every day, there was more flour. There was more oil in the jar. Every single day, she could look and see how
God was faithful because she was willing.
Reminds me of Matthew 6:25, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry
about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body,
what you will put on. Is not life more
than food and the body more than clothing?"
This widow reminds me of the widow Jesus spoke about In Mark
12:41-44 that gave all that she had…not out of the abundance that the wealthy
had.
3 – God continued to meet their needs.
Not only did God feel Elijah and the widow and her son, He
also provided for the healing of her son…who had died. God saw her need and heard Elijah's
prayer. God did not leave her but took
care of her and Elijah.
Over and over in scripture we see that God takes care of
those who are faithful. Notice that
taking care of them doesn't equate to the things we think of today. It didn't mean that He provided her with a
new house or brand new livestock. He
didn't make her the land owner of many acres.
What He did do was take care of her needs.
We can see the faithfulness of these people. We can read about the faithfulness of so many
in scripture. But, what happens when
God calls us to be faithful? Do we
back up and declare that we aren't like them?
Do we remind God of what we need our provisions for? Do we show God our bills and explain why we
can't do what He is asking? OR, are we
faithful and obedient and willing to do what He asks right away…without
hesitation…knowing that He will provide when we are faithful? What about you?
