The passage of 1 Kings 17 is amazing.. and there's a ray of hope tucked in there, for all of us. Let's explore it...
Elijah says to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word." I want you to notice the confidence Elijah had in the Lord His God. He knew exactly whom he served, and he knew Who His God is. He also knew, that the LORD is trustworthy, and "heaven and earth may pass away, but the Word of the LORD shall remain".
When we serve God, we must know Who we're serving. He's not just anybody, He is God!! He's is true, just, awesome. Think about it.
As we see, after procaliming the Word of God, Elijah is directed by the LORD to a ravine, where He has "ordered the ravens to feed him" [1 Kin 17:4] and where he can also drink from the brook. I am sure, as the rain didn't come, Elijah must have noticed the brook drying up. THe Word says, "Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land"[verse 7] When I look back, I can see some situations, where God has made me go through it as well. Times, when I could see, that my resources (the Very resources provided by God) were drying up... However, God actually always makes me wait, till the brook is completely dry, before He shows me where to go from there. And He did the same for Elijah. Elijah had to wait there till the brook dried up, and then God told him where to go next.
When GOd finally did tell him where to go, lo and behold! The directions were towards a widow!! Why a widow of all people? Were widows very well-to-do financially? Of course not..!
However. Elijah went there in full confidence, that she would have enough, because God had spoken. And God cannot lie.[Heb 6:18]On reaching there, as probably expected, the widow had nothing at home to offer him. She had only a "handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug" [verse 12] Surely, a widow, who served God, must have been disheartened, that she couldn't serve a man of God, when he asked her to. We all are inadequate at some point or the other, and mostly at the time when God calls us. We feel there is nothing to offer. We feel we can't do it. But I remember a saying from one of the preachers Ifirst heard "If you're equipped for it, then its not God's calling for you". And its true. So that we may never boast in our abilities, but in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And when we feel inadequate, then the Lord says, as Elijah said to the widow...."Don't be afraid"[verse 13] And then comes the promise, "'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land"[verse 14]
And when we do what God asks us to, surely, God keeps His part.. as we can see "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"[verse 16]
So,I want to tell you, if you feel you don't have what it takes.. Just trust in the LORD. If He's called you, He will also provide all that you need to fulfill the calling.
May the LORD bless you!
