Your Oil Shall Not Run Dry
1 Kings 17:9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
In the Book of Kings, Elijah had previously proclaimed to King Ahab that there would be no dew nor rain exept at his word. Instructed by God, Elijah went to the Brook Cheirth where the ravens fed him until the river became dry.
As the land begins to suffer the consequence of the drought, God instructs Elijah to leave the Brook and go to Zarephath where He has commanded a widow to provide for him.
In arriving at Zarephath, Elijah meets the widow, and he instructs her to provide him with water and a cake. She obeys, But warns him it will be their last, as she is prepared to eat this last meal and die with her son.
God gave Elijah a word, and he obeyed. Elijah was not moved by circumstances, by the drought around him, or by the widow saying this would be her last meal. Elijah held firm on the word of God he received at the brook.
How many times have we heard the word of God for our lives, we take that first step in obedience and zeal, then stop because of what we see around us?
When we look at our surroundings, we let doubt come in. It´s important to keep our focus on God and His word for our lives, and not look at what lies before us in the natural. Because Elijah was able to do this, he was very successfull in his ministry and life. He walked in authority and power, and what he saw in the natural was of no consequence to him.
What I noticed in this passage is that not only did the widow, her son and Elijah eat, but so did her household.
There are many things around us in chaos, but keeping our focus and vision on the Lord and his plan for our life will cause our oil to never run dry.
May you be richly blessed.
Thanks for this post, Yvette I really needed to read this.
It’s amazing what unwavering faith can accomplish. I just noticed for the first time Elijahs almost over -the -top faith. At least I think he would be view that way today. You know the ones that go around so positive that God is going to bless them, they even have the nerve to ask the poor to bless them
But that seems to be the kind of faith that God is looking for, because it not only blesses the one with the faith but those around them.
Yvette- What happened next? Now I’ll have to go back and read that passage to see how it turns out – I know I’ve read that passage before but can’t remember!
This is an important message you bring here. What I miss sometimes is the conviction that what I am doing is actually a “call from God” and not just plain silliness. THere have been only a very few times in my life where I had that unwavering clarity of knowing that what I was doing was directly from God. I think, however, that this message is true for any goal or dream we want to pursue, while surrendering it to God, we must pursue with unwavering faith.
A very encouraging post! Sometimes we get beaten down so badly by things of this world we lose focus. Elijah and the widow is a great example for us to truly see where our help comes from. God bless!
Very appropriate for this hour… As you said, it is extremely important to keep our eyes focused on our Lord in all we do. Holding our shield of faith up high and walking in the power of the Holy Spirit… This is our only strength – If God took care of Elijah, parted the sea, gave a rich supply of oil to the widow and her son, made the sun stand still… surely He will help us in our time of need, since He is the same yesterday, today and yes, forever more…
Very, very encouraging-
Blessings
Rev Deb
Thank you Deb for your kind comments