Out of Emptiness He provides!

I am fascinated by story of Elijah's visit to Zarephath where he encounters a single parent mom and her son. Elijah was sent to by God and was told that a widow would provide for him. I wonder what Elijah's expectations were on what God had told him. I wonder if he imagined a wealthy widow who had an abundance of resources.

When Elijah entered the city he saw a women collecting sticks, and assumed it was the widow who was to help him. He was tired and thirsty from his journey, so he immediately requested she bring him water and bread. He assumed what God's provision was going to look like. Little did he realize that this widow was collecting sticks to prepare her last meal for her and her son. She had just enough oil and flour for her and her son to eat and then die.

I think as a single parent I would have been in shocked at the request. Here was a man (who had an abundance of privilege in his society) and I was a widow who was out gather sticks to make my last meal. The last thing I would want to do is feed someone else before my son and I, much less this stranger.

Elijah had enough encounters with the living God that He knew God's provision wasn't limited by the amount of flour and oil she had. Something in Elijah's next response communicated this to the widow. He was obviously tired and hungry and had been traveling along way, yet he was coming to her. He was telling her that God would not let her flour or oil run out. She was encountering someone who had a belief in someone, God, more than himself. This man was confident in God's provision, no matter how dire the circumstances looked. So she took the risk, amidst all the evidence to the contrary. And, God provided! The flour and oil lasted.

Where are you at your wits end? How is it causing you to be self-consumed? God has a plan! It is in our emptiness that we find Him. He is at the end of our rope. He just usually doesn't show up in ways we expect. Are you in an Elijah season, where you trust God completely amidst your circumstances but still place your expectations on what His provision looks like? Or, maybe you are in a widow season where you see no hope, no resolution, only death? God shows up for both!