1Kings 17:9-16Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith 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. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 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.
Did God tell this woman ” my prophet will come and ask for bread”?
Or did God ask this woman to be my servant and I will never leave thee?
I think that by her response to Elijah she didn’t know what would happen but she did know the God she served. As she did her morning prayers don’t you think her cry to God was ” O God, you see my need, you know my situation, Lord I’m depending on you to supply, but if you don’t supply I’ll serve you regardless. ” Just as the three Hebrew boys said our God will deliver us but if he doesn’t we will not bow.
Serving God doesn’t come with a detailed plan and explanations of all that is going to happen in our lives. So that we can be prepared and know everything will work out okay. Serving God is a commitment each day to choose Him again and again.
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is what God asks and there is no detailed explanation of what “all” entails.
Marriage doesn’t come with instructions either, it is just a commitment better and worse, richer and poorer, sickness and health, choosing each day to love again. We aren’t given any idea about how rich, how poor, how sick, how healthy, how much better, or how much worse. This week (under the sickness and health column) I needed to help The Farmer with a procedure; I did not see it on my list 43 years ago. But the love that started then, that has gone through many of life’s circumstances, that is renewed by choosing helped me. And it wasn’t so bad after all.
Thoughts of Grace 