Great God in Heaven, pour down your blessings upon this dear reader. May that which she or he faces today be done in the strength of Your presence with them. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
The state of a widow in most societies even today, is a lowly one. For the Jews to be one who had lost her husband was to be without means of support. A woman could not go outside the home to work and if she was young with a young family without close relatives nearby, life would be difficult if not outright impossible. Such is the case the prophet Elijah as he himself is being cared for by God. God provided a location where he could have water and even had ravens come and feed him with bread and meat. Then the drought claimed even the wadi where he had been drinking water. God then sends him to the home of a widow.
The prophet asks the widow for a small cake of bread and this from a woman who thought she was preparing her last meal for herself and her son. She tells Elijah so; this is our last meal, for I have nothing left. Elijah then shares God's promise to provide for her if she will have faith to share with this man of God and then to provide for her son and herself. It took great faith on the part of that woman to go and prepare a small cake of bread for this stranger knowing that she might not have enough to feed her son and herself, but she had heard the promise from God and out of her faith does as she was told. God had promised she would never run out of oil and that was what happened.
As we elect Jesus as our Lord and Savior and make Him King of our lives, we too are blessed in incredible, unexplainable ways. It requires us taking bold first steps towards that faith and we are never disappointed. God blesses us.
What's keeping you from taking that first step of electing Jesus as Lord of your life?
PRAYER: Lord, our nation awaits the election of our new president today. May he be the one blessed by You to lead us in the ways that we should go. Forgive us our sins as a nation and make us again aware of our responsibility to the world. Like Israel we can and should be a nation of priests, of "bridge-builders" to You. Our wealth and propserity are meant for example not privilege, so let it be. And help me today take my first step towards that faith that shows the world that we have voted for You and have made You our Lord and Savior. King Jesus, I pray this in Your precious and powerful name, amen!
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "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." 2 The word of the Lord came to him, saying, 3 "Go from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the wadi, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." 5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord; he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the wadi. 7 But after a while the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land. 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.
1 Kings 17:1-16 tells a wonderful story of God providing more than enough for a person who normally would not have had a thing because of her social state. Please read the story and see how this applies to you.
