1 Kings 17:7-16
7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’”15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
Prayer: O Lord, we thank You for Your constant care and blessing. Whether we are in peril or peace, grant us faith to trust in You for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
See How the Lord Tests Our Faith
Dear Friends in Christ,
“There was no rain in the land.” There would be no rain in the land for three and a half years. The prophet Elijah had proclaimed to King Ahab that the Lord would cause a drought because of his wickedness. King Ahab had done “more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him” (I Kings 16:30). Last week, we heard about king Jeroboam who made his own temples and molded two golden calves for the Israelites to worship—a horrible king. However, the holy writer records that the things Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel did were so evil, it was “as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.” Ahab was so bad, he made Jeroboam’s sins look trivial.
Elijah brought a stern announcement of a terrible drought to Ahab. It’s not a surprise that the Lord immediately told Elijah to flee after he made this announcement. Afterall, Ahab blamed Elijah for the drought and would seek to punish him. For his safety, the Lord first sent Elijah to the Brook Cherith. It was here that the Lord miraculously provided for Elijah through ravens which brought him bread and meat every morning and evening. What a mighty way for the Lord to demonstrate his power by feeding his servant through one of the most ravenous of creatures!
Yet eventually the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land. And this is where our lesson begins this morning.
The Lord’s instructions to Elijah would have certainly been surprising. Not only did the Lord tell him that he was going to provide for him through a widow—someone of meager financial means—but it was a widow from Zarephath. She was a Gentile—a non-Israelite—who lived in a coastal town near the hometown of wicked queen Jezebel. This was where he was supposed to get help? But Elijah trusted in the Lord and went to Zarephath between Tyre and Sidon.
When Elijah came to the city, he saw a woman gathering sticks at the gate of the city. While he didn’t know who the widow was, this was a likely prospect. Someone gathering firewood in this manner was not a wealthy person. The prophet tested the situation further by asking for a drink of water.
The widow went to retrieve water for the prophet, but when he made the additional request for a morsel of bread, she responded by telling her desperate situation. She was a widow. She had a son. She had no food in her home. As someone of no great financial means in a drought in the ancient world this was not a likely success story. It was a distress story. All she had left was a handful of flour and a little oil in a jug which she was going to use to make one last loaf for her and her son, “that we may eat it and die.” Imagine the desperation this woman was in. A single parent trying to keep her son alive in a famine. Imagine knowing there was nothing left after this. And then, this prophet asks for a loaf of bread! Even worse, he asks that she make something for him first, and then something for her and her son!
Elijah gave her a reason for why she could trust him. “For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” The Lord had not just sent Elijah to be helped by the widow. The Lord had sent the hungry prophet to provide for a Gentile woman and her son.
But would you have seen it that way if you were her? Hearing this from a man we had never met before knowing there would be nothing left after making that loaf—I wonder if we would be so quick to jump on the opportunity. That’s why what’s written before us one of the greatest acts of faith and trust in God in the whole Bible. It simply says, “And she went and did as Elijah said.”
Wow. The Lord tested this woman at a desperate time. A test of her faith greater than most of us could imagine. Even with the prophet’s reassurance—she had to give away the tangible—what little she had, before she received something intangible, something she didn’t have or see. But she trusted the Lord’s Word through the prophet. This is the essence of faith, as Scripture teaches, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). She trusted, and she was not disappointed. The woman gave what little she had, and the Lord provided for her.
The Lord tests his people. He tests our faith. God didn’t need this woman to provide for Elijah—he could have sent ravens like he had done before. But he chose to send Elijah to the widow to test her faith with the intention of strengthening it. He showed her that she and her son were not forgotten by him. He had more meals planned, even though she couldn’t see it. He showed her that he could provide for her when she thought there would be nothing left in the house.
The Lord tests us too. He presents opportunities in our lives to teach us to rely on him. These opportunities can come at any time—even when there is a drought. One of the ways he tests us is through stewardship of our resources. God gives us everything we have—our time, talents, and treasures. While he gives us these for our benefit to use and manage as we see fit, he also desires us to use a portion of them for his purposes. In the Old Testament, the Lord would have his people give a certain percentage of their income to support the Temple. As New Testament believers, we do not have the same commands, but we are still expected to support the work of the church. Paul writes, “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come” (I Corinthians 16:2).
But why? Why does God ask us to give what he has given us? He doesn’t need our money. He doesn’t need our talents. He doesn’t need anything—he is God! However, he uses Christian stewardship to test or exercise our faith. For example, one of the offerings that the Israelites would give was a first fruits offering. It would be the first of their harvest. That really was a test of their faith. It showed, that by giving the first of what they received and thanking him for it, they trusted that God would continue to provide for them through the rest of the harvest. It put their life and livelihood in God’s hands. Through it, God taught them that he would take care of them.
We live in one of the most abundant times in history. If we had a drought, we still would not be worried about having enough to eat. If we had a recession, there are enough economic and social nets, that people would still be able to survive. Yet, despite all this, we still hold on to our wealth so tightly. We are quick to receive God’s bounty, but slow to let ours go.
One of the reasons God loves a cheerful giver is because it indicates someone who is not in love with this world. It indicates someone who doesn’t trust in riches. It indicates someone who loves and trusts in God. Someone who knows that what little we give to God, he can just as easily replenish and refill with even more than we first had. How we live reflects our priorities.
When we set our budget—do we begin by setting aside a portion of our income for the church or helping others? Or do we wait until we have invested and purchased everything we needed and wanted to see what is left over? Instead of acting like the poor widow who had nothing, we typically think, “Let me feed myself first and then I’ll see what I can give.” But our stewardship goes beyond just our money. There are 168 hours in a week—how do we spend them? Is the only hour we spend in God’s Word each week on Sunday morning? A half of one percent of our time? We have been given abilities and talents—do we think about using them to honor God?
At the same time, God doesn’t want us to give all our money to him or spend every minute reading the Bible and so neglect our family and other important obligations. However, he does want us to trust in him. Whether we are rich or poor, Christ tells us, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). It’s not the amount that we give of our time, talents, or treasures, but the intent of our heart. Jesus praised the widow who only gave two mites (Mark 12:42).
None of us have been perfect stewards of what we have. We have at times been selfish and greedy, lacking trust in God. But that is why, there was one who came to perfectly steward in our place. He gave all he had and was. Every second of every minute of every hour of every day was committed without interruption or break, to save our souls eternally. Though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, so that we through his poverty might become rich. Our Lord Jesus came into this world to redeem us. He came to give us hope after death. He did this by paying for our sins of greed, selfishness, and doubt, by going to the cross. He trusted in God the Father’s plan for him. He hungered and he thirsted, so that he could quench our hunger and thirst eternally. He gave up all that he had even his last breath, to save us.
It’s this selfless and generous Savior who calls us to trust in him. He ensured that we might have eternal salvation. This was our greatest need. Even if we had everything we needed, we could not prevent death. But Jesus has put an end to death’s reign and turned it into a portal to eternal life in heaven where we will reign with him for all eternity. Our God who has so graciously done this also promises to care for us in all our needs—every last one. The same Lord who provided for a widow and her son through a hungry prophet, provides for you and me. He has given us sound bodies and minds, a prosperous country and good weather, to care for us.
There will be times in our lives where we go through difficulties. God uses these for our good. He uses these tests to strengthen our faith in him. Someone who trusts in God for the little things, learns to trust God for the big things.
We can’t take anything in this life with us. However, when we seek to support the church through our time, talents, and treasures, we do it with the hope that others might hear the saving truth of the Gospel so that they might join us in the joys of heaven. May God help us through our stewardship to not cling so tightly to the things of this world, but to put our trust in God for our help and salvation. This hope we cannot yet see, but like the widow who trusted, faith in God does not disappoint. Amen.