1 Kings 17:14
For the LORD, the God of Israel, says: The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth."
Have you ever felt like you have barely anything left to give? You're at the end of your rope. You have just enough energy to take one more step but beyond that, you can't make any promises. I've ran short races, experienced childbirth and even survived divorce and that's allowed me to relate to that feeling. What if God asked you to take that last step but instead of benefitting you, it was for someone else? Would you be able to do it? Can you give out of your need and not just your surplus?
Today's story from the first book of Kings is heartbreaking but affirming. In it, Elijah encounters a widow and her son - they are the victims of a great famine. She and her son are literally about to eat their last meal, and Elijah asks her for water and then bread. She says - I only have oil and flour and I was about to prepare it as my funeral meal. Elijah tells her to first make him something. And to not be afraid because God will keep her supplied until the rain comes and the famine is over. And she obeys!
If I only had one meal left and I had accepted that this was the end for me and my children, I don't know if I could've done what the widow did. I would wonder if this meal would sustain us until some miracle could happen. Meanwhile, it's the sacrifice she makes, her act of obedience that IS the miracle and shows God that she is faithful. Where is God asking you to put your trust in Him? Pray today that you will be faithful when God asks you to give from your need and not just your surplus.
