Today, it is clear we live in troubled times – unemployment at record levels (over 9%), defaulting mortgages and foreclosures still increasing, political leaders unable to work together to make decisions for our country’s well-being, families torn apart by violence… wherever you turn, the news seems dire. The fact is — we are witnessing a modern “famine in the land”…where there is not only a dire need for the saving Word of God –but there is a literal shortage of provision!
The classic biblical illustration of God operating in a time of famine is found in 1 Kings 17 – where God uses the illustration of the widow of Zarephath — whose offering and sacrifice to the Prophet Elijah was rewarded by a double miracle. This woman obeyed the voice of the Prophet Elijah, and in return prospered mightily!
And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. -1 Kings 17:15
The widow of Zarephath is an example of how faith and obedience move God to release His miraculous provision in tough economic times! But this was only the first miracle released through her faithful obedience and sacrifice! In verse 17 we read miracle number two: after her son fell sick and died, the woman turned to Elijah in her sorrow. And, Elijah interceded, praying and crying out to God to resurrect the son of this woman, who’d obeyed the Lord’s command to offer up all that she had; and in verse 22, it says: the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
The widow woman’s faith and obedience were the keys that unlocked God’s provision and resurrection power! Even amid a famine in the land — God can resurrect dead things in your life! Your faith is the determining mechanism that activates God’s promises! And when your act of faith is a sacrifice, God sees that your faith is bigger than your problems!
The classic biblical illustration of God operating in a time of famine is found in 1 Kings 17 – where God uses the illustration of the widow of Zarephath — whose offering and sacrifice to the Prophet Elijah was rewarded by a double miracle. This woman obeyed the voice of the Prophet Elijah, and in return prospered mightily!
And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. -1 Kings 17:15
The widow of Zarephath is an example of how faith and obedience move God to release His miraculous provision in tough economic times! But this was only the first miracle released through her faithful obedience and sacrifice! In verse 17 we read miracle number two: after her son fell sick and died, the woman turned to Elijah in her sorrow. And, Elijah interceded, praying and crying out to God to resurrect the son of this woman, who’d obeyed the Lord’s command to offer up all that she had; and in verse 22, it says: the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
The widow woman’s faith and obedience were the keys that unlocked God’s provision and resurrection power! Even amid a famine in the land — God can resurrect dead things in your life! Your faith is the determining mechanism that activates God’s promises! And when your act of faith is a sacrifice, God sees that your faith is bigger than your problems!