Called To Give
I was going through the famous story of Elijah and the widow at Zarephath recently and got stuck on a verse.
“Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.” 1 Kings 17:9
In case you’re not familiar with the story, Elijah had been in hiding after he had told the king that he was cutting off the rain for the next few years. The place where he was hiding had a brook from which he drank and it had now dried up. God then speaks the words of verse 9.
What caught my attention was the word “commanded”. I thought it was a bit harsh of God to ‘command’ someone of this kind. Widows were people who had tasted the painful side of life, having lost a partner, protector and provider (because in essence, that’s what a husband is. It’s someone you can relate with and go through life with; someone who protects you from all hurt and danger; someone who meets your needs, whatever their nature). Being a widow meant you were going through life alone, it meant you were vulnerable and it meant you had unmet needs. Remember Naomi.
How then can God order someone like this to be a supplier? To supply you need to be resourced and that is not what widows are known for. In fact when we meet this widow, she’s out there by herself, fending, working on her last meal, preparing herself for death. That is not a picture of someone fit to supply for another, she was barely making it supplying for herself.
God obviously knew something I didn’t. So I went and made a quick study on widows. I found that God had taken personal responsibility for widows, vowing to defend (Psalm 68:5) and sustain them (Psalm 146:9). He had a systematic way in which He would achieve this. One is the inclusion of widows in the people legible to eat of the tithe that came into God’s house (Deuteronomy 14:28-29). Another is the laws concerning gleaning where God instructed the Israelites to leave behind some of their harvest for the poor (Leviticus 19:9-10), as perfectly demonstrated in the book of Ruth. It flows through into the New Testament (see Acts 6:1).
This is the reason why God had the audacity (and authority) to command a widow to supply His servant. It had absolutely nothing to do with her, her vulnerability and endless needs, but everything to do with God and what He meant to her. This brought me to understand why God sometimes commands things from me that I don’t think I can give. This woman wasn’t without a thing (God would be unfaithful if she reached this point), she had some flour and oil, but only enough for her, not for Elijah, so she thought.
Today someone asked me how I was finding my job. I always answer this question with one-word answers, like ‘challenging’. Not today. I responded with: it’s one hell of an experience (I think the poor lady was shocked to hear a pastor use the word ‘hell’ so loosely). What I meant to say was, its demanding things from me I didn’t know I could give. It presents tasks I didn’t think I had in me to fulfil. Because I probably didn’t, until I partnered with God. I’m constantly reminder that all this has nothing to do with me but everything to do with the One who commanded me to give, to give of my time, to give of my emotions, to give of my resources, to give of myself.
So fear not when He orders you down paths you never thought you’d travel, when He compels you to give more than you can handle, trust Him. You are being pulled in to be part of a miracle, obey.
“Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.” 1 Kings 17:9
In case you’re not familiar with the story, Elijah had been in hiding after he had told the king that he was cutting off the rain for the next few years. The place where he was hiding had a brook from which he drank and it had now dried up. God then speaks the words of verse 9.
What caught my attention was the word “commanded”. I thought it was a bit harsh of God to ‘command’ someone of this kind. Widows were people who had tasted the painful side of life, having lost a partner, protector and provider (because in essence, that’s what a husband is. It’s someone you can relate with and go through life with; someone who protects you from all hurt and danger; someone who meets your needs, whatever their nature). Being a widow meant you were going through life alone, it meant you were vulnerable and it meant you had unmet needs. Remember Naomi.
How then can God order someone like this to be a supplier? To supply you need to be resourced and that is not what widows are known for. In fact when we meet this widow, she’s out there by herself, fending, working on her last meal, preparing herself for death. That is not a picture of someone fit to supply for another, she was barely making it supplying for herself.
God obviously knew something I didn’t. So I went and made a quick study on widows. I found that God had taken personal responsibility for widows, vowing to defend (Psalm 68:5) and sustain them (Psalm 146:9). He had a systematic way in which He would achieve this. One is the inclusion of widows in the people legible to eat of the tithe that came into God’s house (Deuteronomy 14:28-29). Another is the laws concerning gleaning where God instructed the Israelites to leave behind some of their harvest for the poor (Leviticus 19:9-10), as perfectly demonstrated in the book of Ruth. It flows through into the New Testament (see Acts 6:1).
This is the reason why God had the audacity (and authority) to command a widow to supply His servant. It had absolutely nothing to do with her, her vulnerability and endless needs, but everything to do with God and what He meant to her. This brought me to understand why God sometimes commands things from me that I don’t think I can give. This woman wasn’t without a thing (God would be unfaithful if she reached this point), she had some flour and oil, but only enough for her, not for Elijah, so she thought.
Today someone asked me how I was finding my job. I always answer this question with one-word answers, like ‘challenging’. Not today. I responded with: it’s one hell of an experience (I think the poor lady was shocked to hear a pastor use the word ‘hell’ so loosely). What I meant to say was, its demanding things from me I didn’t know I could give. It presents tasks I didn’t think I had in me to fulfil. Because I probably didn’t, until I partnered with God. I’m constantly reminder that all this has nothing to do with me but everything to do with the One who commanded me to give, to give of my time, to give of my emotions, to give of my resources, to give of myself.
So fear not when He orders you down paths you never thought you’d travel, when He compels you to give more than you can handle, trust Him. You are being pulled in to be part of a miracle, obey.
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