Gracious God of life, bless the life and needs of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
We start looking at the Lectionary passages for this coming Sunday. The Lecionary is a system whereby preachers can all preach from a common text throughout the Christian year. It is devised so that in a 3 year cycle the Bible can be covered, usually around the events that correspond to the calendar.
Here is the Old Testament lesson from 1 Kings 17:8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 "Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you." 10 So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink." 11 As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." 12 But she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." 13 Elijah said to her, "Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth." 15 She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
The God who provides! That is what this passage is all about! God makes provisions for those of His who call on Him and rely on faith for God to act. In this story the provision came from an unlikely source, an impoverished widow. In Biblical times widows were among the most impoverished and pitied, for theirs was a sad lot in having lost their husband and having to rely on family for financial and emotional support. This is a doubly sad story for this widow had only a young son and was at the point of gathering wood to cook their last meal. How in the world could a starving woman provide for an old man when she barely had enough for herself and her small son? Faith. When asked for water and food, she replied she had none, but he said that she should not be afraid.
Fear kills hope. Fear kills faith. Fear kills the possibility of God working in our lives. If we let it. The key is not to let it. The key is to master fear with faith and hope and the openness to God. Much of what we see in today's society, in our churches, in our workplaces, and in our homes is the result of fear getting the best of us.
PRAYER: Loving God, help me with my faith. Help me to see that which only You can do in settings where it seems that nothing can be done. I ask this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
