Devotional - Mar. 19, 2025
Scripture: 1 Kings 17: 10-12 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?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” “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.”
Show time! As anyone knows, who has performed in a play. You can spend weeks and weeks rehearsing, but then, it is show time. Same with God, we can study our Bibles day and night. We can memorize large portions of Scripture and recite them time and again. But the time will come, and let's face it, comes often, when we need to act on it. Elijah has the name (YHWH is God), he has separated himself from the world (Kerith), but now is the time for consecration (Zarephath). Now is the time to live the faith in trying and difficult times. Did the smelting process work? Do you have silver, or something else? Elijah is no longer in his homeland. It's time to stand with God in places he does not know. Not that being in his homeland would help, he is on the outs with it's king and queen. He is in enemy territory, but God has sustained him in amazing ways. And then..., the bottom falls out from underneath him. God told him to do a simple thing and it appears to disintegrate before his eyes. Could this possibly be right? Until now, everything was going so smoothly, strange and awesome as it was, everything flowed nicely from one situation to the next. Notice this lady uses similar verbiage about her situation as Elijah did when he told Ahab, "as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives (I Kings 17:1)..." Nothing like hearing your words come back to you. Yet, let's remember, Elijah is not here by chance. He was sent (1 Kings 17:9). He was told, this widow will provide for you. Hhhmmm? One might ask, provide what? She doesn't have anything. What she has, whether she knows it or not, is the promise of God that she will be able to provide; not just for Elijah, but also for her son and for herself. Why God blesses her this way, we do not know. As far as she knows, it's over, and this man before her is not going to change a thing. In the midst of this desperate situation, Elijah knows the will of God. He knows the reasoning for the lack of resources (drought 1 Kings 17:1). He knows God can provide amidst a situation of drought and death from his experience in the Kerith Ravine (1 Kings 17: 2-6). But, it's one thing to live by faith when it is just you and God. It's another when there are others around and they are not on the same page with you. Moreover, the situation is not giving you much help either. In fact, it's not working with you at all. Jeremiah gets a word from God that adds some clarity to what is going on with Elijah. In Jeremiah 12: 5, God tells Jeremiah “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a safe country, how will you manage in the thickets or the flooding of the Jordan?" And Jeremiah was a young man when told this, but the message is clear, serving God entails courage and strength. The smelting process (Zarephath) happens in the course of our life. It is not something we come to know in a Bible study or Sunday School class. No, it occurs in our day to day, but hold fast to your learning, your faith (God), and go forth ( Joshua 1:9).
Pray with me .., Holy God we give You thanks for building our faith into our life. Grant us Your peace as we continue on with You. We ask Your blessings on our loved ones and on our church. Help us to glorify You in each day, in Jesus' name, Amen.
God's peace,
Pastor Brian
