Provisions For All Of Our Needs

1 Kings 17:14 For thus says the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.

As God spoke these words to Elijah the Tishbite, so it came to pass. In 1 Kings 17 we find the land of Israel drought stricken. Elijah had been residing by the brook called Cherith, which flowed into the Jordan river near northern Gilead. Though he was in the wilderness, the LORD miraculously provided for him with fresh water from the brook and ravens bringing him bread and meat in the morning and evening. Yet, even when the brook ceased to bring Elijah refreshment and God’s provision seemingly dried up, the LORD had not forgotten His beloved servant.

God sent Elijah to Zarephath, a town on the Mediterranean coast and specifically, to a starving widow. The man of God finds her ‘gathering a couple of sticks’ so that she may go in and prepare a meal for herself and her son, ‘that we may eat it and die.’ Yet we can be assured that as God commands so He will always do. Elijah told the woman to not fear. The circumstances looked bleak, all hope appeared to have gone, the land was in the clutches of a debilitating drought and rain was not coming in the foreseeable future.

So, Elijah presents the widow with a test of faith, demanding complete commitment. Despite the scarcity of food, she is to feed God’s prophet before she takes care of herself and her son. What had the poor widow from Zarephath to lose? She believed she and her son were destined to die. And so, she does as he requests. And the result? The widow and her son and Elijah ‘ate for many days.’

1 Kings 17:16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.

The mighty provision of God just kept on coming! Water from the brook, meat and bread from the ravens, flour and oil for a hungry prophet, a starving widow and her son, and then later in this chapter, the revival of life for the widow’s son who had died. What a mighty God we serve! The widow’s confession to Elijah at the conclusion of this chapter sums up succinctly what we know in our hearts to be true.

1 Kings 17:24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God and that the word of the LORD is truth.

The word of the LORD is truth. What God commands He does. We would do well to meditate over and over again upon the truths of what God says He will do for His chosen people. Just as He met all the needs of Elijah and this widow in a time of drought, He will meet all our needs too.

Jeremiah 32:27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God all flesh; is there any thing too hard for me?

Certainly not! The God who made the Heavens and the earth, the God who created a man and woman in His own image, who filled the earth with all creatures great and small, who held back the Red Sea in order to save His people and drown their enemy, whose Spirit breathed life into a valley of dry bones, who shut lions mouths and kept his servants unscathed from a fiery furnace, who reached down and showed mercy to His people time and time again in the New Testament times (need I go on?!)- He is our God, our Almighty King of whom nothing is too impossible.

Isaiah 59:1 Behold the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.

For those who respond to God’s call-in faith, there is nothing too difficult for Him. For those who are His chosen children, God will answer their prayers and act on their behalf, when they cry to Him. What is your need just now? You may feel that you are, like the widow of Zarephath, going through a drought. Perhaps struggling spiritually, physically or financially. Our merciful God, full of compassion and love is ready to help. The LORD promises to guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places (Isaiah 58:11). Through prayer and patient trust in God our scorched places, the places of difficulty and pain, where we feel we are in a pit of despair and hopelessness, can become places of refreshment and strength.

Isaiah 43:19 Behold I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

‘Heavenly Father, You see my despair at this time. Like the widow and her son, I am in great need. Have mercy on me and help me to trust You and know that You are the God who can do a new thing. You are truly the God who has and still can make a way in the wilderness and rivers of refreshing in the desert. LORD, I look to You and will wait in hope for You. Amen.’