There there

 

I Kings 17:8-16

God added a particular bit of information to the command for Elijah to go to Zarephath. The Lord said, "I have commanded a widow there to feed you" (1 Kings 17:9). There is important to this story. The prophet was leaving Israel. He would visit a foreign place and be confronted with foreign gods and a foreign queen's wrath. But he went there with the promise God would take care of him. We don't know, but I assume the widow of Zarephath didn't get that memo. How did God command her? Again, we don't know what that means. At the least, perhaps, we can say she wasn't expecting a prophet of God to come to her. She didn't imagine her dire situation would get any better. For her, there was the place she was about to die. It's worth noting, then, that sometimes we have a sense of what God is doing. Maybe there's a promise we know God has given us. Or we can see what is unfolding right in front of our eyes. Wherever the there is, near or far, you're sure of how God will care for you. Praise God when you have that assurance. Other times it may not be so obvious. You may have no idea what God is doing. That makes there all the more troubling. Even still, at the heart of this short story is God. It's tempting to focus first on the obedience of the widow or Elijah. Indeed, we can learn something about faith from them both. But it is God's faithfulness that drives the story. Elijah can go there because God told him about the widow who would feed him. The widow may not have been brought up to speed with what was happening, but God still brought life to her family. So, remember God's faithfulness and care as the center of this experience. The same God that lives in the story of the widow of Zarephath is the same God that cares wherever there is for you. Stay blessed...john