"I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also."
(2 Timothy 1:5)
As I read this verse I am reminded of a mother in 1 Kings chapter 7. She was a widow and now a single mother with only enough to feed her and her son for 1 more meal. The prophet Elijah was told by God to go there and ask her for a meal. Here's what happened starting in verse 10: "So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. 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.”
This mother had no hope. She was going to do everything she could by making the last meal and then the plan was for them to wait on death. Maybe you are a mother and as far as that goes you could be anyone, male or female, but you feel like there's no hope. There's no way out of your situation. Let's see what happens with this widow woman and her son.
13 "Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”
15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 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.
She recognized this man as a man of God and decided to do what he had told her. But first she had to give what she had left and make the prophet a meal instead of her family. This took a lot of faith believing that what this man said would happen, would really actually happen. It did and she came out very blessed with so much more. She had enough to keep her and her son as well as sell the leftovers to pay her bills. Obedience to the word of God paid off. But that's not all, her son became sick and died. Here's the rest of what happened.
17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”
22 The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”
24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”
So to the mother's and to everyone really: If you put God first and do whatever He is telling you to do, you will see Him work in your life and in your family. There is hope in your situation!
Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Pastor Lee
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