“The Blessings That Never Run Out”

Scripture text: 1 Kings 17:7-16

Have you ever had one of those days when you just felt all dried up - no energy, no focus, no direction, and seemly, no hope?
That your showers of blessings had been taken away and that they were now raining down on someone else?

Read 1 Kings 17:7-12

This widow in Zarephath was in deep trouble. She had no husband, only one child, no one to care for her, no blessings left. Or at least, she thought that there were no more blessings! The truth is that the Lord was with her, and was sending a great man of God to see her through some very trying times.
The drought is causing a huge problem throughout the region, and of course, the woman doesn’t realize that it was Elijah who called on God to dry up the rains – and that this was in response to King Ahab’s idolatry. She apparently had only a little water left, and only enough flour and oil to make one small loaf of bread. She fully expected that she and her son were going to starve to death.

But the Lord had other plans. Neither she nor her son were going to die, and the food that would have only lasted for 1 more skimpy meal would feed them until the rains came again to nourish the earth. Not a lot of flour at any one time, but enough for each and every day – and not only the woman and her family, but also for this Godly visitor.

Read 1 Kings 17: 13-16

Doesn’t that remind you of Israel’s journey from Egypt to the Promised Land? Manna and quail came every day for 40 years, and each batch would only last for one day. Without the manna, Israel would have perished in the desert, and without the flour and oil, the woman and her son would have perished in the drought.

There are times when our own lives seem like this, don’t they? Over the past 2 years, many people have watched as their financial security dried up as quickly as those streams of Israel did. Many have lost their homes,
their retirement, their jobs, their savings, and felt that they had nothing left to lean on. Many looked to the government for help, and there has been some help from that quarter, but others didn’t put their entire hope in that source, and they surrendered their trials to God. There have been several of you who were in this quandary, and in giving it over to the Lord, you were cared for. Some of the help came from our church, but most of it just came. There weren’t a lot of extras, but every need was met.

Both Israel in the desert and the widow in Zarephath were required to do nothing more than to have the simple faith that the great Jehovah would provide for their every need. And the widow wasn’t even a Hebrew! In truth, she lived in Baal country and, very possibly, had even worshipped this false god. But she now stands in sharp contrast to another follower of Baal – the wife of King Ahab, Queen Jezebel, who was also from Sidon. The destitute widow receives God’s blessing, and the other does not. Baal – the god of fertility and rain has been rendered impotent, while the true God continues to give blessing upon blessing to those who will acknowledge him, and place their and trust in Him.
The widow had told Elijah “As surely as the Lord your God lives, I have no bread and very little else.” She wasn’t blessed because she had nothing left – she was blessed because she proclaimed that Elijah’s God “is live”!

That is the faith that we need – to know for certain, even when our life seems to be falling apart, that our God is not some hard, immobile statue, that He is not aloof and remote, not cold and uncaring, nor is He a god that only demands honor and gives nothing in return.

Our God is alive!
Our God is loving!
Our God is giving!
.. and only asks that we acknowledge that He is our living God!

Because of Israel’s faithlessness, and their worship of the stone cold god Baal, they were to discover what famine – both physical and spiritual - was all about. But the one who acknowledged that the God of Heaven was alive and real, would be fed miraculously for several years. And people today are still discovering that this same God is still real and still living, and still giving. He doesn’t give us a lot of extras during our time of need, but He fills our every need.

Remember the words of Psalm 146 that we read in our Responsive reading?
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.

The writer Gordon Aeschliman gives us these words:
Don't give us blessings; give us grace to be obedient to your every command and desire.
Don't give us status; give us a place to serve.
Don't give us things for our use; use us.
Don't give us good jobs; put us to work.
Don't give us pleasure; give us perspective.
Don't give us satisfaction; teach us sacrifice.
Don't give us entertainment; enable us.
Don't give us good salaries; give us strength to do your will.
Don't give us a mansion to live in; give us a springboard to take Christ's love to the whole world.
Our great joy is in pleasing our Lord; no other joy in life is comparable.
--Gordon Aeschliman

Trust in Him and him alone, and every day, joyfully proclaim that our God gives, and that our God lives, that our God reigns!