Faith Produces Miracles - Part 3

Let’s look at:  1^st Kings 17:8-14. 

II.  Unlikely People

Faith Produces Miracles!  Like a faithful servant Elijah does exactly what God has told him to do.  He makes the dangerous journey to Zarephath.  When he got there, he did not find a scene of comfort or abundance. The first widow he saw was on the brink of starvation. But he knew what God had said to him–the widow had been assigned to sustain him.  Have you ever heard the voice of the Lord and obeyed exactly what He said to do, but it seemed like you must have missed what God said, because what you found yourself in the midst of did not seem like a blessed place?  That’s where Elijah finds himself.  He leaves a dry place expecting to find blessing and ends up in another dry place. Hmmm! "By the way, Elijah, I’ve arranged room and board for you. I’ve picked out a poor woman who is about to starve to death. She’ll take care of you." If Zarephath didn’t make sense, that made even less sense.

Paul said in 1^st Corinthians 1:27 “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.”  God always wants us to keep on the forefront of our minds that without Him we can do nothing. But, through Christ we can do all things.  No, it does not make since to our natural minds that God would send Elijah to be sustained by a starving widow who is preparing her last meal.  However, we can’t possibly process within our finite minds such a mighty and infinite God.

As Elijah approaches the city gates, he finds this woman gathering sticks. As she explains, she is going to gather a couple of sticks and cook her last meal, and then she and her son will die.

Elijah does what seems to be a very cruel thing. He says 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.” You take your very last bit of food, give it to me, then you can have what’s left over.

That seems cruel. And yet Elijah is acting according to the Word of God. God told him to go up to Zarephath and said, "A widow there will provide for you." He didn’t say, "A widow there will allow you to starve, and she will starve along with you." God promised to meet Elijah’s needs, so that’s why Elijah makes this request of the widow, because he is confident that God is going to meet her needs and his.

God isn’t going to allow her to starve. He’s promised to sustain them. Now, you have to understand what this woman had. (She appears to be a young woman. She had just one child, and the child was very small. She must have had a very tragic life and had lost her husband at an early age). She was down to one bowl of cornmeal. She also had a little vial that contained oil, and she was going to prepare a little pancake out of the oil and cornmeal, cook it, eat it, and then die. She had just enough to prepare one little cake. Once she pours out the oil, there will be nothing left. That was her plan. That wasn’t God’s plan.