It hasn’t been two years since my passport has been renewed and it is a bit discouraging to know that in order to literally think about traveling to Zarephath or to any other place for that matter, we might need another kind of passport to make that possible. As of this moment, it has not yet become an international mandate, but looking at how things are going, it will only be a matter of time. There’s recent talks of the current administration contemplating the Vaccine passport route like the Green Pass in Israel.
My new one barely has any stamping of arrivals and departures and it will probably stay that way. To those who dream of Paris, if you are determined to make that dream come true, you would have to subject yourself to being “jabbed” if you haven’t already. The guy credited with La tour Eiffel had his hand on the framework of the Statue of Liberty.
Ahhh liberty… We are seeing it slip from our hands not even gradually, but at an alarmingly accelerated rate. Let me get back to Zarephath before I deviate even further. If you are one of those who have considered not to get vaxxed at any cost, knowing of the biblical account of the widow at Zarephath would be timely and essential as it shows us that with matters of subsistence and economics, there is NOTHING impossible with God. The entire chapter of 1 Kings 17 shows us of God’s faithfulness not only to those who fear and serve Him, but also to those whom He wishes to display his miraculous provision.
Elijah Fed by Ravens
2 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: 3 “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”
5 So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath
7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”
15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.
17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”
22 The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”
24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”
verses 4,6,9 – As you fully trust in Him, His provision will come to you from those you least expect through His direction.
Verses 12- 16 shows us that the woman did as she was told by Elijah and she was blessed in the process. Not only that, God’s miracle didn’t stop at just providing for her and her family.
Verse 22 – Later on, the widow from Zarephath witnessed another great miracle, the resurrection of her dead son. God may or may not choose to show Himself mighty through healing. No one can force His hand when it comes to these things. He does however honor persistence (Luke 18:1-8). As you pray aligning your will to His and not neglecting to live in His ways, expect answered prayers. If God so chooses to prolong a trying time in our lives to accomplish a purpose for His glory, we must also be willing to yield ourselves to that through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
Our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world have experienced God in this intimate level. Do not lose heart as trials similar to theirs come to a neighborhood near you. Everyone’s faith has to be tested.
“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
1 Peter 1:6-7
“Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
7 My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.”
Psalm 62:5-8
[…] Related read: Lessons From Zarephath […]