The Hard Instructions

Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.” 

So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?” As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.” 

But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.” 

But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!” 

So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah. 

Some time later the woman’s son became sick. He grew worse and worse, and finally he died. Then she said to Elijah, “O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son?” 

But Elijah replied, “Give me your son.” And he took the child’s body from her arms, carried him up the stairs to the room where he was staying, and laid the body on his bed. Then Elijah cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?” 

And he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him.” The Lord heard Elijah’s prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he revived! Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him to his mother. “Look!” he said. “Your son is alive!” 

Then the woman told Elijah, “Now I know for sure that you are a man of God, and that the Lord truly speaks through you.”

‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭17:8-24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

http://bible.com/116/1ki.17.8-24.nlt

I can imagine the widow’s prayer right before she met Elijah. What must that conversation have looked like with God? She was down to her last morsel. She saw it all coming to a close for her and her son, and I imagine all she could do was cry out for God’s supernatural intervention and wait for His response. 

And respond He did - but maybe not with the kind of response she was expecting. God’s response came in the form of an instruction: Take your last morsel and share it. Yes, you read that correctly. Share it. Had God completely gone off His rocker? This is not how we feed hungry widows, God. We don’t tell them to take what little they have and give some away. But, apparently, yes, yes we do. Or at least for this widow that is exactly what God saw fit.

See, God was answering the widow's prayer by placing an opportunity in front of her - an opportunity to give and trust Him in it. She had the freedom to say yes and the freedom to say no. But because her heart remained open, she chose not to clench her fists in self-preservation. And as a result, God was able to pour through her (feed Elijah) while simultaneously providing and replenishing her own supply and meeting her own needs. Her oil and flour never ran out! And on top of that, because she welcomed Elijah into her home, he was then present to be able to pray for her sick son and bring him back to life! Her one yes to God's instruction resulted in saving her household from starvation and her son’s life from death! Wowza!

So, here's the take-away today. Sometimes when God asks us to do something very difficult, it’s actually a gift in disguise. And the only way to open the gift is to say yes to Him and welcome the opportunity He’s placing before us. Remember, God is not looking to take things from us. He’s looking to give to us and show Himself mighty to us. When we keep that perspective, we no longer fear the hard instructions. Instead, we welcome them and see them as the door that leads to our own blessing and rescue.