Promises to Lean On

“Don’t be afraid...for this is what the Lord the God of Israel says: there will always be plenty of flour and oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!” 1 Kings 17:13-14

How seriously do we take God’s promises? God is the same today as He was during Elijah’s time. The difference today is that we have a whole book of His promises to lean on. In 1 Kings 17, we meet the true prophet Elijah, whom King Ahab called Israel’s trouble maker. Elijah was hiding from the notorious Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, because just as she plotted to kill all the Lord’s prophets, she wished him dead as well. 

Elijah asked a poor widow in Zarephath for some water and bread. The widow informed him she only had enough flour and cooking oil for one more meal for herself and her son. “Then we will die.” Elijah said, “Don’t be afraid. First make me a little flat bread and bring it to me. Then prepare something for yourself and your son. For the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’”

The widow believed the words God promised through Elijah and she and her son did not go hungry. Today, Jezebel comes in many forms, but always she comes to destroy God’s people, His words and promises. There is widespread deception and cynicism, and the popularity of atheism and agnosticism. All to suppress the power of faith in God and His Word. If we believe and lay claim to His promises today, just as the widow in Elijah’s time, we will never go hungry in more ways than one. The Words of God are food for our spirit and soul, the part of us that will live forever.