Saturday, February 5, 2011

Widow At the Well

So...I was reading 1 Kings this morning, and I got to the chapter about Elijah running off into the woods away from Israel. God told him to find a woman at the well and ask her for food and water. The woman was a widow and had a small boy. She told Elijah that she was taking the last of the oil and flour to eat and then die. Elijah told her to first feed him, then herself and her boy and that they will have enough food and water to last the drought. You see, Elijah told the Israelites that there would be a drought because they were worshiping false gods. Anyway, the woman did as Elijah said and they went through the whole drought with bread and water.

The point I'm getting at about this great story is...can we claim to have as much faith as the widow? If a prophet came to us and said to trust in God...give him the last of our food and water...and that we will not run out...would we rely on our faith and help him? Or would we rely on the world, and just eat what's left and die?

The bible says we must walk by faith and not by sight. The woman saw the last portion of bread and water to be consumed by herself and her dying son. She saw a drought. And she saw a beggar, worse off than herself, asking to be served before she and her son had been served. What her faith saw was a prophet sent from God, speaking God's will, and being rescued from death. The Lord doesn't just rescue us from death by feeding us and quench our thirst. The Lord rescues us, now, by sending His only Son to die for us so that we may be saved. Just like the widow at the well, we have to follow by faith and not by sight. It would be easy for her to see that the drought has been on going and that she hasn't the supplies to make it past this last meal. It would be justifiable for her to tell Elijah she doesn't have anything to give. Because she would be right in saying she has nothing EXTRA to give.

But the Lord doesn't want EXTRA. He isn't asking for you to give Him what you have left. He's asking you to give Him what you have NOW. Don't give Him the lame offering that you yourself wouldn't keep. Give Him your prized cattle. Give Him your LAST OIL AND FLOUR. Give Him your LAST DRINK OF WATER. The beggar woman who gave Jesus an offering equal to our penny, was praised more than any man who gave Jesus riches. Because, the rich man still is rich after giving Jesus riches. But the beggar woman gave Jesus ALL SHE HAD. It's not about how much you give. It's about how much you DON'T have left after you give that shows your faith in God.

I'm not saying sell everything and live in a box. Although, Christ did ask the rich man to sell all his belongings and follow Him. Not because the Lord doesn't want you to have riches, but because the man worshiped his riches SO MUCH, he walked away depressed that he couldn't keep his wealth. JESUS CHRIST asked this man to walk with Him and HE WAS DEPRESSED? His avarice nature made him feel as though he were missing out to follow Christ LITERALLY. The point of this blog, is to say this:

We must have the faith of the widow at the well. We must trust in God so much, that we give our LAST BIT to Him, knowing that He will give us His everything. God asks for SO LITTLE in exchange for ETERNAL LIFE. We cannot hold on to our flesh, our possessions, and our life here on earth in spite of what God has in store for us. If the Lord asks you for your last dollar, it is only because He will give you an unlimited supply of dollars in return. If you don't believe that, ask the widow at the well. Sure, she didn't give Elijah a dollar. She gave him bread and water. But, the dollar wouldn't feed Elijah or her and her son and keep them alive. Instead, the Lord gave her and her son an unlimited supply of bread and water to tide her and her son through the drought. The Israelites had money and that didn't give them water.

Don't pray for money and a job when there is a drought taking place. Don't pray for a new house and a new car when there is no rain for months. If you cannot eat and you cannot drink, then what good are material things? Don't pray for what you WANT, but trust in God for what you NEED!

Be blessed! :o)

Renee

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