ELIJAH & THE WIDOW
Wk 25 Day 3

1 Kings 17
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 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."

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.

The Widow
.. was only doing her "usual" - gathering sticks to make meal for herself and her family (v.12)
.. she believed what the Lord said through Elijah (v.14-15) - regardless of her means
.. probably at some point thought that Elijah came to remind her of her sins (v. 18) since her son died
.. later proved that Elijah was a man of God - her son was raised back to life.


Elijah
.. just following God's orders - where and who's gonna feed him; 1st, the ravens (v. 4) then, the widow (v. 9b)
.. he was confident enough to say to the widow impossible things because he was dependent on God's power to work - not his own
.. prayed to God 3x to raise the widow's son back to life - it was granted (v.22)


:: In light of the widow's perspective, I need to learn to completely trust God through the people he has sent to me to share God's insights. Those who have authority over me (and even those who don't - the women never knew Elijah to begin with but believed him anyways). I just trust that God has His ways of giving them the Words of Wisdom from God.

:: God could also use me to be an Elijah to others - someone who will bring the Words of Wisdom from God to those who need it. I must be sensitive to God's voice - through His Word and however He wants to speak to me. I must only abide in what the Word says and in my deepest inner witness that God may speak His still small voice. I will be faithful in doing what God wants me to do regardless when people may believe me (just like the widow in the beginning) or not. As long as I know that I am in line with what God has told me, I know and trust God that He will take care of me.

Lord, thank you for balancing out what You want me to do. I do need to have more faith in believing what the "Elijahs" in my life will tell me to do; and at the same time as I become an "Elijah" to others, help me to be truly faithful to You and what You call me to do. Help me to be sensitive in hearing Your voice and to know which way to go or what path to take in order to accomplish what You want me to do. Thank you for Your goodness and for the constant reminder of Your undying Word. In Jesus' name, amen.