“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. 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.’ 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.“
1 Kings 17: 13-15 (NIV)
The Lord told the prophet Elijah to go to a certain widow’s house, because He had already directed her to supply him with food. We don’t know how God directed her, but she heard from God, and was willing to obey what He told her, even though she still had anxiety about it.
She was at the absolute end of her food supply during a famine and a drought. The whole land was in an economic crisis, and she only had enough flour and oil for one last meal. Elijah saw her anxiety and in greeting her, he told her not to be afraid. He assured her that her jars would never be empty for as long as the drought lasted. She then used up the last of her flour and oil, to make bread for the prophet.
After she used the last of her food, she probably wondered how she would feed her son tomorrow, since her jars still looked empty.
God didn’t give her the details of His plan, nor did He give her a lump sum supply to last for her lifetime. She was told through Elijah that her oil and flour would not run out, and she had to trust God, based on His words, and not what she saw with her eyes.
We face similar testing like this all the time. What we see doesn’t match up immediately with what we know God has promised us. As fear and anxiety start to take hold, it takes faith to trust Him at His word, when the jars we see, still look empty.
Elijah told her the supply would not run out. Just as she put her trust in the promise of Elijah, we put ours in the promises of Jesus through His word in scripture. We may see empty jars, but we hold on to His promises by faith in His word.
The next day her jar of flour and her jug of oil were refilled. It continued to be refilled, day by day, with enough to last her until the famine was over.
The miracle happened as God promised, by refilling just enough for each day. The way God works is to give us what we need one day at a time, and He expects us not to depend on what we see, but what He promised.
God blessed the widow in her scarcity and He provided for her as long as the famine and drought lasted. If we prioritize God, and put Him first in our lives, He will always supply us according to our needs, one day at a time, and His provision will last as long as we need it.
Lessons like this one teach us to trust God even beyond our financial or material needs. We can apply this story to trusting God to refill any area of our life that is empty or depleted. We may be emptied of patience, love, peace, faith, or have reached our limit on forgiveness toward someone who has repeatedly hurt us. If we open our heart and our home to God, we never have to remain empty.
I remember once going through what felt like a famine of virtue, because I needed to be replenished with patience, faith, hope and love. Stress and trials left me depleted, but when I brought all my emptiness to Jesus, He started to refill me, one day at a time.
We all have a holy man dwelling in our home, and He is greater than Elijah. As we welcome Jesus into our home, through all of the famines, droughts, pandemics or any crisis of scarcity, we can trust Him each day to keep us in peace and fill what is lacking.
Lord, we believe you are the Holy one who is with us every day. We lift all of our empty jars to you, and trust you to refill what we need. We ask in faith, not by sight, and will expect to receive it from you one day at a time. Amen
