1 Kings 17:8-16 (NRSV)
Read 1 Kings 17:8-16 on biblegateway.com
Verse 8Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Verse 9"Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you." Verse 10So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink." Verse 11As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." Verse 12But she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." Verse 13Elijah said to her, "Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. Verse 14For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth." Verse 15She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. Verse 16The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
Devotion
Elijah of Tishbe (meaning “settled”) is unsettled. The Lord sends him to a widow in Zarephath. Her provisions depleted, she was preparing one last supper for her son and herself before they died.
Elijah has a strange request, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me.” She did as Elijah asked and received the prophet’s reward. “The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth.”
Like one beggar showing another beggar where to find bread, when we trust in the word of the Lord, we offer a witness of hope. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and obedience has the capacity to sustain life.
Prayer
Life-giving, life-sustaining God, in times of plenty or drought, your words fill us with hope. May we trust your unsettling word that sends us to others; and by sharing our faith, that others may be filled with the hope of Christ’s love. Amen.