Dear conqueror in Christ
What a privilege to remind you today that God cares for you. Caring is the act of protecting people and providing for their needs. It calls for the empathy to feel their feelings and find a way to help them with effectiveness. In this manner, God cared for the widow of Sarephath. As a punishment for Ahab’s idolatry, drought and famine came to Israel. The widow was deeply affected. She had only a little supply of flour and oil that was just about running out. She confessed: “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.” (1 Kings 17:12). As the Lord’s prophet, Elijah delivered to the widow this good new news : “Don’t be afraid” (1 Kings 17:13), for God will provide.
Now Elijah was able to reassure the widow because he had himself experienced the faithfulness of God. Three times, God miraculously cared for him. At the beginning of the drought, God directed him to the Kerith Ravine where “ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.” (1 Kings 17:6). When the brook ran dry, God directed him to that very widow. For over two years, the Lord multiplied her provision, her “jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry”(1 Kings 17:16). And then, the Lord cared for Elijah when he was discouraged and exhausted. An angel of the Lord came and “touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” (1 Kings 19:5). Don’t be afraid in your time of drought, for God will take care of both your physical and spiritual needs.
Excelsior
Bishop Leon