1 Kings 7:7-16 (NIV 2011)
7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 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?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
12 “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 olive 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.”
13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 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 sends rain on the land.’”
15 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. 16 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.
Reflection:
1 Kings 17 describes another widow that God saw. Jesus mentions her in Luke 4:24-26.
God directed the widow here to give a portion of her food to Elijah. After her small amount of food was gone, the widow and her son were prepared to starve because they had nothing left.
Even though she had nearly nothing left, she gave out of her poverty to Elijah. And God saw her and provided for her and her son until the rains came.
She was still a widow and her situation was still pretty desperate, but she was seen and cared for by God.
Response:
Although we may not know the crushing material poverty of the widow in our American society, we may feel “poor” at times when we feel we lack in something (money, time, energy, etc.) and God asks us to give even more. In these times of perceived poverty, let’s come to God in prayer and give Him all of who we are in faith. As we pledge our flour and oil to God, may we trust that He will see us and renew us.