Day 27~ A Woman of Faith

In light of International Women's day today, I thought that I'd write about a woman of faith found in the Bible.
The Bible has many amazing women who are all great exemplars but today there is one specific woman I would like us to pay specific attention to and her name isn't even mentioned!

This woman is the widow at Zeraphath. This scripture can be found in 1 Kings 17:7-16.
It is the scripture of a woman, who was directed by God to supply the prophet Elijah with food at Zeraphath in the region of Sidon.
Of course when the Prophet had gone to the place he was directed to go, there was the woman whom he proceeded to ask for water and bread. 

This was her response; 1 Kings 17:12 "As surely as the Lord your God lives, I do not have any bread- only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it - and die."

Her response was very interesting, she was obviously a woman who believed in God because she said, "As surely as the Lord your God lives" however she did not expect God to give her anything, she was simply going to use up whatever she had and die. 

It is important to note that at that particular time, a drought had swept over the land. Therefore, it would have been difficult - if at all possible - to grow crops, so there may have been a famine.

Then the prophet Elijah told her to go home and do as she had said but first to make some bread for him, for the Lord, the God of Israel says "The jar of flour would not be used up and the jug of oil would not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land" Then the scriptire goes on to say that she did as Elijah had told her and the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil didn not run dry.

Two important things to note:

Firstly, God could have used anyone to feed Elijah but instead of sending him to someone with more than enough, he sent him to this poor woman.
You may wonder, 'Why is that significant?'
I think that God wanted to show us that he can use us to do miraculous things even if we don't have a lot. He wanted to show us that he can multiply whatever gifts we have and in so doing bring honor and glory to his name.

Secondly, it's significant because it shows the faith and trust that this woman had in God. She had very little yet she believed that the words from God's prophet would come to pass. She didn't argue with him, or say 'I have so little, it's impossible that what you have said will happen' she just believed and did as she was directed.

Her testimony is truely worth listening to and if she could tell it, I bet it might go somthing like this; 

'I had prepared myself for the worse, I knew that it would be the last meal my son and I would eat. I mustered up the strength to gather the sticks for the fire. As I gathered them I thought about my son and wondered if there could ever be the slightest glint of hope in this darkness. 
Suddenly, this man called out to me; this man of God, and asked me for water. I hid my tears as I nodded and was about to fetch it when he called back to me; it was then he asked for the impossible, he wanted bread. I turned back to him slightly embarrassed and told him of my situation, my son and I were going to have the last of the little we had and then we were going to die from starvation. 
Then he said something; something that brought hope to a thousand days of saddness, but could it really be true? Surely, surely it must be. Heaven has sent me a blessing; my jar of flour shall not run out nor would my jug of oil go dry until God sends rain to this land!
Surely, God hears even the silent prays of the heart of even his humblest servant! Trust in the Lord your God for he will take care of you even if the odds are against you. You must have faith, look at me, a widow with nearly nothing, yet he multiplied what I had. Imagine what he can do for you!'

So like this Widow, let us all trust in God, knowing that he will take care of us, even if we have very little.