Jun 19thDevotion 1 Kings 17:7-24 Living An Unbelievably Good Life Part 7

1 Kings 17:7-24 – Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 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?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”  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 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.”  13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”  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.  17 Sometime later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”  19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”  22 The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”  24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

“Sometime later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing.”  Job 4:4-5 “Your words have supported those who were falling; you encouraged those with shaky knees.  5 But now when trouble strikes, you lose heart.”  It is easy to brave and strong when woe is on another.  Are we brave and strong when it touches us?  It is one thing to counsel the grieving, and another thing to go through the same experience.  Contrary to popular opinion, by the Holy Spirit it is possible to witness and understand the deep grief of another, even when one has not gone through it.  But let our counsel come slow, let us be as prophets who speak truth from God so that we don’t misrepresent Him.  Chastising the grieving is what the immature do.  Loving, empathizing, comforting and encouraging is what the mature do.  While we witness the deep pain of those who are suffering, let us also prepare our own minds, our hearts, and our very souls, for no-one is guaranteed that they will not likewise experience the same heartache.  Be loving.  Be God’s voice and hand, and be ready in case we suffer likewise.  The wise man learns from experience, the wisest man can learn from the experience of others.  Elijah hurt for this woman.  So let us grieve for the grieving and hurt for the hurting.  Jesus did.  (John 11:33-35)  And let us prepare our own heart by anchoring it to Jesus our Savior and Lord.

“The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!””  Elijah was not a stoic man of God.  There were times of fear and utter resignation (1 Kings 19:1-4).  He felt the mother’s hurt and he hurt for her.  James, the brother of Jesus, wrote of Elijah “Elijah was a human being, even as we are…” (James 5:17)  We can be sure that he hurt for this woman.  Can we imagine the joy he had as the Lord answered his prayer and the boy came back to life!  Wow!  It is easy to imagine that he scooped that boy up and ran down the stairs to present the boy, who was dead and now alive, to the grieving mother.  Can you hear him shouting with joy “Look, your son is alive!”  If I had been Elijah I think I would have been ecstatically laughing, or ecstatically crying, or both.  Maybe he was?  Let’s remember that this is the first time recorded that a person was brought to life.  So Elijah praying for the boy to come back to life was deep, deep faith.  As he, profoundly empathizing with her, cried to God for her, surely then he also felt her great joy and he and she together greatly rejoiced in the great loving kindness of the Lord.  Praise God!  Oh to have been there!

“Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”  The woman had, with the perpetual replenishing of the flour and olive oil, seen that God was definitely in the miracle working business.  Yet, when her son died, she, filled with grief, seemed to have forgotten the miracle that God had been doing for her and her son.  Her emotion was behind her accusation at Elijah, but we would not chastise her for that.  Elijah responded to her accusation with the love that God had for this woman.  When Elijah was praying I believe that the mother was also praying.  I don’t believe her faith was gone, it was just her emotion showing.  I can almost hear her prayer as she prayed downstairs while Elijah prayed upstairs “Lord God, please revive my son.  Surely keeping us alive is no harder than bringing my son back to life!  Please have mercy on me and bring my son back to me.”  So, let us not judge that the grieving mother had lost faith, after all, although in her shock and grief she accused Elijah and God, she did bring her child to Elijah the man of God.  That in itself is in expression of faith.  That in itself is evidence of her knowledge that God was the answer.   Praise God!

Family, let us be the small light that illuminates the path to the great and true Light of the World.  Let our hearts be open that the love of God we have so feely received be the love that we freely share with the world.  Let the blessing of God within us be the blessing of God we share to the world.  Let us, Brothers and Sisters, be obvious children of God so that those who are searching for Him in desperate times of need, come running to us with the cry to bring their exigent need before God.  May we shine for God and testify that they can also have the Light within them.  In that, we honor God.  In that we have great joy!  Praise God!

Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord!

Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.

Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”