…And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. – 1Kgs 17:15 KJV
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The scripture today is part of the experience of a widow during a famine that came up in Israel during the reign of King Ahab. She was going through famine alone with the additional burden of having to take care of a son. No doubt in such situation she would have been pleading with God to send her a helper and one can only imagine how she would have felt when either through a dream, vision or divine inspiration, she became aware that a prophet was coming whose feeding she had to care for – 1Kg. 17:9. It will either be seen as a pure imagination on her part, or the greatest joke as far as she was concerned or she was probably having a bad dream, courtesy of the hunger that the famine brought upon her.
But it was not any of these as in actual fact the “so called” prophet showed up to deliver the message that God had sent him to her, not to bless her, not to deliver food or money to her but he was expecting that he should be fed by her throughout the period of the famine. What a huge joke it must have been, not only to the widow but probably even to Elijah. If someone was to feed another, the human minimum expected would have been that there should be some level of comfort by the person but all that was around this woman was poverty.
Even if Elijah believed God that the woman will feed him, he would have had to take his faith to another level, in order to ask a woman, who he was not sent primarily to go and bless and with all the obvious needy state that she is in, to provide him food especially when the widow presented her sorry story. She was actually going to eat her last meal with her son and die. Elijah, by advising her to feed him and then feed herself and her son demonstrated a level of faith which indicated that he at least believed that God will ensure that the food that was initially for two people will be sufficient for three people – 1Kg. 17:13.
There is someone reading this presentation that is also in similar situation of need and expecting God to provide. Whereas the woman was supposed to be looking up to Elijah for spiritual support that will get out of her situation, she instead was being looked up to by Elijah to feed him. It must have taken great confidence for Elijah to give the advice he gave to the woman which was that the woman should actually implement God’s instruction, and then watch to see the result of obedience to God and trust in Him. It must also have taken a high level of faith in God and His Word for the widow to comply. She probably would not have believed Elijah if it was about Elijah’s comments alone but because she had been communicated with directly by God, she needed to at least comply with what God told her and not necessarily what a stranger was telling her.
The scripture today says she followed the instruction of God as advised by Elijah and answer to her long standing request for provision from the Lord during the famine was granted as she and her family fed for many days and that included Elijah.
The following points stand out for Christians today to learn from:
1. Although it was looking late, God arrived early as God is never late.
2. She kept communications with God functional even in her state of deprivation and hunger else she would have missed God’s instruction for her deliverance.
3. Although she seemed to have acted on the advise of Elijah, she would have relied more on the instruction she already received from God before Elijah appeared.
4. She trusted God even when God’s final plan was not known to her.
You also can get out of that situation of discomfort if you spend quality time trying to hear from the Lord. You cannot depend solely on the spirituality of your leader as you may soon become a spiritual victim. You must continue to trust in the Lord without limiting the direction of his manifestation and no matter how ridiculous his suggested solution may be, the only thing you need to do is to confirm that he is the one talking after which you are left with no choice, but to demonstrate your trust in Him, by carrying out such instructions to the letter. Your liberation from that unbearable situation may just lie in your obedience and trust in Him.
I pray that God will release to you His Holy Spirit in your hour of need and give you the strength to carry out his instruction as confirmed in his communication with you so that out of that unbearable situation will appear your testimony in Jesus name. Amen.
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