Monday

Devotional
Read 1Kings 17: 8-16

1Ki 17:8 Then the word of the LORD came to him,
1Ki 17:9 "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you."
1Ki 17:10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink."
1Ki 17:11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."
1Ki 17:12 And she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now 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."
1Ki 17:13 And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son.
1Ki 17:14 For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'"
1Ki 17:15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.
1Ki 17:16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.

Thoughts for the Day

God wants every Situation, Nation and Person to realise that His creative power is still at work in even our Sin-infected World of today. However, the only how, is if divine occurrences become part of our normal daily living as children of God.

This might not, and shouldn’t exempt us from the hardships and frustrations of the day. However, it should increase the level of divine interventions in our situations. Elijah’s ministry was empowered by God’s Miraculous Responses, which makes one wonder whether the same Power is at work today.
What we should understand is that, that world of Elijah idolized materialism, including false worship, and all contemptuous attitudes you can think of, as it is today; but it didn’t prevent the Almighty God showing Himself in situations that needed his power.

The difference between Christians of today and Elijah, was that Elijah’s Faith was incredibly unshakable. When he prayed over situations, he did that with courage and confidence, that subjected the problem in question ‘into a panic mode’ to flee.

What’s remarkable is that God has called us into his divine Will, as part of his family of victorious people to dominate and prevail over difficult circumstance in our lives. This realisation made Elijah effective in releasing the purpose of God in impossible situations.

His Spiritual ability to ‘command’ Heaven to answer to his demand, of chain supply of the widow’s bin of flour and jar of oil, showed how in tuned he was with the creative power of God.

What is significant here, are two things, Faith and Obedience, that the two characters in the story showed.

First Elijah, who trusted God enough by his word, to travel a journey to a place he hardly knew anyone to stay with. Moreso, not enough or no resources at all to cater for his upkeep at a foreign place; but was told to depend on a widow who had nothing, at an austere times.

Why didn't Elijah questioned the motive behind this, that the God of sufficiency should provide for me through someone with rich resources, and not through a financially struggling widow.

Next was the response of the widow, to Elijah, to prepare first the small amount of food left for him, before herself and son. How do you rationalize such situations in our sophiscated world, among even our Christian community of today.

The widow should have rejected such a 'ridiculous' request straight away, and even question the authenticity of Elijah's credentials as a prophet of God.

However, Faith and Obedience played a huge part in their responses to God. How can we emulate such rich spiritual qualities to receive from the Lord what we lack.

What is clear here is that God wanted to show his people that any situation is conducive to his way of doing things, he uses the despised to confound the noble.

One thing to realise is that Elijah’s prayer wasn’t in the carnal mentality mode of ‘pray-and see-what- happens’ kind, every prayer received heavenly endorsement to achieve its purpose, because of his obedience and holiness in his approach to God.

Prayer Focus:

To understand that God can use you too, as a child of God, as he used Elijah, to bring a change, as an answer to your prayer.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, help me to have a Spiritual ears that I can hear when you speak, so that I will not miss your direction to bring a change to unfavourable situations in my life, and others too. Amen!