Shortage, it is a moment for which we have passed sometime in life, and it is an extremely difficult moment, but, even in such times we must trust in how powerful our God is to meet our needs. In the Bible we can find stories that tell us about scarcity, where God has shown his powerful hand in those circumstances, so if you are at that time, I want to talk a little about the story of the widow of Zarephath.
This story is found in the first book of Kings chapter 17, and tells us that God sent Elijah to Zarephath, where a widow who had no food to support herself and this is what God says to Elijah:
Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.
1 Kings 17:9
There are things in the Bible that seem to us of little logic, and that is that we must understand that our God goes beyond logic, our thoughts are not the same as His, and His ways surpass ours. The hand of God reaches further than the hand of us humans and this story is perfect for us to understand that.
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.
11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.
12 So she said, As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
1 Kings 17:10-12
Awesome! Elijah arrives at that house, where a woman who has nothing, only a handful of flour to prepare it, eat it she and her son, and then wait for death. And this man says: “Bring me a piece of bread.” This woman seemed to be hopeless, and we can not judge her for it, since we ourselves in other situations have also been wrapped up in doubt. But you know what? Our God always arrives with a fresh response to our lives and that is the best part.
I want you to concentrate your mind on the answer that Elijah gave to this lady:
And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.
1 Kings 17:13
What an answer this is! Elijah told her that the jar’s flour was not going to run out and that the oil in the jar would not diminish until the Lord sent the rain again. This word was fulfilled in a short time and that woman was greatly blessed by God. This teaches us a lot, and is that we must trust in God even in the most bitter moments, because our God supplies in the midst of scarcity.
Let us never faint, rather, let us firmly hope that the hand of God will sustain us in those moments.
