A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES
THE RUNAWAY PROPHET
PART IV
"I, Elijah the prophet of God, left the brook where I had been staying.... I then made my way to Zarephath in Sidon.....I looked for a widow the moment I arrived at the town gate... For God had told me He had commanded a widow to take care of me.... I was a little surprised at His words... For I know that widows are usually poor....It may therefore not be so easy for any widow to take care of me.... Moreover, He was not sending me to a widow in Israel.... But to a widow outside of Israel.... So things did not make much sense.... However, so far God has taken care of me.... By providing me with a brook with water and food via ravens.... I could, therefore, trust Him to take care of me in this new season.... I did, in fact, see a widow.... She was gathering sticks.... Not a very hopeful sign..... However, I decided to call out to her and ask her for some water.... She responded positively to my request.... I then decided to ask her for a piece of bread.... But this time her answer was not very promising... She first of all let me know that my God is not her God since she is not an Israelite... Moreover, she told me that she did not have any bread in the house...She had just a little flour and oil left for herself and her son..... God had not told me that the widow He had selected for me has a son....And she told me that she and her son will have one more meal before they will die... She sounded very desperate...." Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn about the prophet Elijah's encounter with a widow at Zarephath in Sidon....
ATTACHMENT A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES
THE RUNAWAY PROPHET
PART IV
As directed by the Lord, the prophet Elijah went to Zarephath in Sidon to meet a widow the Lord had selected for him to take care of him as you can read in I Kings 17:10-12
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?" As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread." "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 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 and die."
Just imagine that you are Elijah. Would you not feel very uncomfortable after your encounter with this widow? You may well question yourself if you still have the prophetic ability you used to have when you accurately predicted to king Ahab that there would be no rain for three years. That word has proven to be all too true. However, in the case of the widow you may initially believe that you have approached the right widow but then she tells you she plans on dying. So either you have picked the wrong widow or, dare you think it, God has not done what He has promised He would do: He has not commanded this widow to take care of you.
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