4 April | EVERYONE
"So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah." 1 Kings 17:15-16
From a human point of view, all that remained was the last bite of bread, and then there was nothing left but to wait for death. The dry, cracked fields did not even bleed. The squalid cattle were dying everywhere from hunger and thirst. The rain did not fall; life withered and died out in Zarephath, a town about twenty kilometers north of Tyre along the coastal road that led to Phoenicia.
A terrible drought was ravaging the kingdom of Ahab, the wicked king of Israel. Elijah, by divine command, had announced that it would not rain for three years, and the fury of the idolatrous monarch was unleashed. So the Lord hid his servant by the brook of Cherith, where he had ravens bring him food. In the course of time, however, that source of water dried up, and then came the command, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you” (1 Kings 17:9).
When he arrived in Zarephath he met a poor widow who was gathering firewood. The prophet asked her to give him something to eat and drink, but the needy woman told him that she had only a little bit of flour and oil to cook the last morsel of bread for her small son.
What she did not know is that faith and trust in God are the secret of life. Bread helps you survive, but faith makes you live. She heard the voice of the prophet, prepared the bread to feed God’s messenger, and saw the miracle: That little oil and flour lasted her all the time of the drought without running out.
No one loses by giving God what they have. When He asks, it is not because He needs it. He owns all the fields in the world. He asks in order to give.
Take Action
Never forget that when God asks you for something, it is not really for Himself; it is for you! These surrenders and sacrifices allow you to lighten your burdens, even if at first it seems otherwise. Sing "The Widow of Zarephath" (if possible, with your family).