1 Kings 17:7-24<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.\u00a08\u00a0Then the word of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0came to him:\u00a09\u00a0\u201cGo at once to Zarephath\u00a0in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow\u00a0there to supply you with food.\u201d\u00a010\u00a0So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, \u201cWould you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?\u201d\u00a011\u00a0As she was going to get it, he called, \u201cAnd bring me, please, a piece of bread.\u201d\u00a0 12\u00a0\u201cAs surely as the Lord your God lives,\u201d she replied, \u201cI don\u2019t have any bread\u2014only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil\u00a0in 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\u2014and die.\u201d\u00a0 13\u00a0Elijah said to her, \u201cDon\u2019t 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.\u00a014\u00a0For this is what the\u00a0Lord, the God of Israel, says: \u2018The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the\u00a0Lord\u00a0sends rain\u00a0on the land.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 15\u00a0She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family.\u00a016\u00a0For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0spoken by Elijah.\u00a0\u00a0<\/i>17\u00a0Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing.\u00a018\u00a0She said to Elijah, \u201cWhat do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin\u00a0and kill my son?\u201d\u00a0 19\u00a0\u201cGive me your son,\u201d Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed.\u00a020\u00a0Then he cried\u00a0out to the\u00a0Lord, \u201cLord\u00a0my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?\u201d\u00a021\u00a0Then he stretched\u00a0himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the\u00a0Lord, \u201cLord\u00a0my God, let this boy\u2019s life return to him!\u201d\u00a0 22\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0heard Elijah\u2019s cry, and the boy\u2019s life returned to him, and he lived.\u00a023\u00a0Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother\u00a0and said, \u201cLook, your son is alive!\u201d\u00a0 24\u00a0Then the woman said to Elijah, \u201cNow I know\u00a0that you are a man of God\u00a0and that the word of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0from your mouth is the truth.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cSome time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 The truth is that sometimes the situation before us is, in human perspective, is dire.\u00a0 If God does not step in then we could die.\u00a0 That could cause us to fret but we remember two words\u2026\u201dBut God!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen the word of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0came to him:\u00a09\u00a0\u201cGo at once to Zarephath\u00a0in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow\u00a0there to supply you with food.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0The Lord always has a plan for us.\u00a0\u00a0A plan He has prepared and a plan that will succeed.\u00a0\u00a0(Jeremiah 29:11, Proverbs 19:21<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0A plan that may be nothing like we could have thought, or imagined, and perhaps, a plan we would not think is even the best thing.\u00a0\u00a0But if it is of God, it is the best thing and the perfect thing for us. (Romans 8:28<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0The prophet Elijah could have contested with God and said \u201cWhy do I have to seek out a widow, who is likely struggling, and seek charity from her?\u00a0\u00a0Why should I be so burdened and why should I burden her?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0But Elijah didn\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0That is the difference between those who know and trust God and those who don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, \u201cWould you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?\u201d\u00a011\u00a0As she was going to get it, he called, \u201cAnd bring me, please, a piece of bread.\u201d<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Elijah personally and intimately knew God and since He did, he trusted God.\u00a0\u00a0In order to trust God one has to know of Him, or minimally, know of Him, and must believe.\u00a0\u00a0Trust will follow that.\u00a0\u00a0(Romans 10:14<\/b>)<\/p>\n
So Elijah found the woman gathering sticks.\u00a0\u00a0She was likely hot and tired, discouraged and depressed, hungry and desperate, for herself and for her child.\u00a0\u00a0Yet, when Elijah asked her to bring him some water, she stopped gathering the sticks and was going to bring Elijah water.\u00a0\u00a0Then Elijah went a step further.\u00a0\u00a0He said to this woman whom he had never met before \u201cAnd while you\u2019re getting me some water, would you bring me some bread to eat?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Yikes, think about that! Was he being too bold?\u00a0\u00a0No, not too bold, unless we say bold in his faith of God.\u00a0\u00a0Then there is no such thing as being too bold in our faith to God.\u00a0\u00a0It was simple to Elijah, God had said that a widow who would feed him, and somehow he knew this was the woman, so he asked her for food.\u00a0\u00a0He knew he would receive it, because God had previously arranged it to be so.\u00a0\u00a0Elijah was claiming what God gave him.\u00a0\u00a0He did not shrink back.\u00a0\u00a0I wonder how often we miss the blessings that God has for us because we do not act in faith on what God has already given us.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u201cAs surely as the Lord your God lives,\u201d she replied, \u201cI don\u2019t have any bread\u2014only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil\u00a0in 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\u2014and die.\u201d<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0It is amazing that this poor widow, who already was feeling beaten down and abandoned, didn\u2019t say to him \u201cLook buddy, I am tired and have a lot on my mind.\u00a0\u00a0Yet in spite of that, I agreed to get you some water.\u00a0\u00a0Then, what gall you have!\u00a0\u00a0You ask me to bring to you not only water but also some bread!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0But she is more gracious than most.\u00a0\u00a0She explains, perhaps a bit exasperated, that she is telling him the \u201cGod\u2019s honest truth\u201d when she says that she has no prepared bread to eat or to give him.\u00a0\u00a0Not only does she not have any bread to give him, but she has next to nothing to make bread.\u00a0\u00a0This lady, having humanly surveyed her situation, figured that in this drought and famine she and her son would have a little bit to eat and then die of starvation.\u00a0\u00a0She was telling him that she would help him if she could, but she could not, without depriving her son.\u00a0\u00a0Very sad.<\/p>\n
How did Elijah not cry?\u00a0\u00a0He didn\u2019t because He knows God and in knowing God He trusts God.\u00a0\u00a0Elijah knew the Lord had a plan that would succeed.\u00a0\u00a0So Elijah could be bold and confident, because he lived by faith and in doing so, he was daily given all the evidence he needed for his faith in God to continue to grow and be strengthened.\u00a0\u00a0(Hebrews 11:1<\/b>) Hopeless situations become, in God\u2019s hands, just a seed ready to burst into seen life.\u00a0\u00a0Seen life because we know that a seed has potential to bring forth life that we can see.\u00a0\u00a0Yet the seed is filled with life and with the blessings of God its deep life is revealed.\u00a0\u00a0The seemingly lifeless fruit seed, when understood and put into proper use, will reveal its potential.\u00a0\u00a0It will show the beauty within.\u00a0\u00a0Its life will blossom and the result will be that it blesses those who come to it.\u00a0\u00a0Not only does it get to live its life, but it grows to bless others.\u00a0\u00a0And not only that, but in living out its potential, it produces seeds that will likewise, when properly planted, repeat the cycle and many more will be blessed.\u00a0\u00a0Thereby the blessings are doubled, and even more so, multiplied, ad infinitum. It begins with fulfilling God given purpose.\u00a0\u00a0God already has a plan for those whose seeds fulfill their potential.\u00a0\u00a0For those who won\u2019t live out God\u2019s plan, well, that is a different and very sad story.<\/p>\n
But we rejoice in the faithfulness of God.\u00a0\u00a0We know that He not only has a plan but He has the full ability to bring it about.\u00a0\u00a0So we believe God.\u00a0\u00a0We put our faith, our hope, in Him.\u00a0\u00a0We draw near to Him.\u00a0\u00a0By drawing close we get to know Him better.\u00a0\u00a0By knowing Him better our faith in Him grows.\u00a0\u00a0As our faith in our Unlimited God grows, we draw closer and we get to know Him more.\u00a0\u00a0And the cycle continues.\u00a0\u00a0Then we, like Elijah, may have faith to pray for what we now think is unthinkable to pray for.\u00a0\u00a0Draw near to God and He will draw near to us (James 4:8<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0Actually we will find that He has always been near to us, He is just waiting for us to open our eyes and acknowledge Him (Acts 17:27<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0God is.\u00a0\u00a0Do we know that!\u00a0\u00a0And once we do, do we daily pursue Him as the only treasure that truly matters.\u00a0\u00a0If so, perhaps we can pray and see things that would today blow our minds (James 5:17<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0That would really bless us.\u00a0\u00a0It is what God wants for us.\u00a0\u00a0For all of us.\u00a0\u00a0Know God. Believe God.\u00a0\u00a0Trust God.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s the best life!\u00a0\u00a0Praise God!<\/p>\n
Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i><\/p>\n
Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
1 Kings 17:7-24\u00a0–\u00a0Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.\u00a08\u00a0Then the word of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0came to him:\u00a09\u00a0\u201cGo at once to Zarephath\u00a0in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow\u00a0there to supply you with food.\u201d\u00a010\u00a0So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[82,104,1700,99,2148,94,1874,88,17,10],"class_list":["post-2261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-hebrews","tag-james","tag-jeremiah","tag-kings","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-proverbs","tag-psalm","tag-romans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2261"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2262,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261\/revisions\/2262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}