The Widow of Zarephath

My friend, a single mom of 3, sent me an e-mail last week expressing her desperate need for heating oil. We sent out an Urgent Request for prayer regarding her need. I knew God's people had been praying...I knew I'd been praying, but on October 29th, I shared how my heart was heavy with so many requests (see "A Heavy Heart"). By Sunday morning as I was 'standing on my guard post and keeping watch for what He will speak to me' (Habakkuk 2:1), I had the thought that we had the $25 in Boundless Ministry funds to repair the fuel gauge for this mom's oil tank.

We hadn't even included this in the prayer requests because that seemed like a minor thing compared to the urgent need for fuel. She didn't even know how low her fuel was because the gauge wasn't registering anything. And as soon as I thought about fixing her fuel gauge...Holy Spirit did a wonderful thing...He reminded me of the Widow of Zarephath.

I Kings 17:1-16 tells the story of Elijah's prediction of drought over the land. First, God sent Elijah to camp out by the brook Cherith and the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening. I recently read, (I think it was in the book In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day) that ravens are notorious for neglecting to care for their young...but God can redirect the natural, inbred inclination of any animal (yes, even humans!) to do His will for His glory! That's an amazing story in and of itself. But it only gets better...

After a while, even the brook Cherith dries up and God comes to Elijah and says, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” Elijah meets the widow and asks her for a drink of water (remember...it hasn't rained for years...this water would not have been easy to come by!). As she is going to get it, he yells after her to give him a piece of bread too. And here is her reply:  “As the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.” (verse 12) Elijah reassures her and says 'Go ahead...but make a little cake for me too. Because God has said your flour will not run out and your jar of oil will not run dry until it rains again.'

She did as Elijah requested and they ate together for many days.

Praise His Name! This is what Holy Spirit reminded me of on Sunday morning (it just takes a lot longer to type it out here!) and He added, "Don't fix her fuel gauge...let's go on faith that the oil will not run dry until she has the money to buy more." Ahhh! What a God we serve!

Ohhh...but it just keeps getting better...

I shared this with my friend Sunday night. I told her that we could get her fuel gauge fixed, but God said not to yet...that I was going to have faith that it would not run out until she had the money to get more oil. I also told her that I've been praying to God that we are desperate for Him to come through. I'm not sure how she took in all of this...she has a great spirit and can laugh at the worst of times...but she was having a really low moment over a lot of different issues. Regardless of all that's been happening,  she chuckled and went along with what I was saying anyway.

Then, Monday morning, I wrote this in my journal: "Lord, (mom of 3) desperately needs Your provision and it does not have to come thru us (Boundless Ministries) it needs to come thru You! I just want to hear about it so I can praise You along with her! She needs oil. She needs 4 credit hours to finish her Associates Degree. She needs peace. She needs You!"

About an hour or two later, I logged onto my e-mail and I had a notification of a donation received through Paypal! And it was enough to cover her heating oil! Even two days later...I'm still choking back the tears thinking about how our God works!

Now, in all honesty, I'd been in contact with the donors over a few days and knew they might be donating some money. But I didn't know how much and neither of us had put a timetable on when...so I'd never mentioned it to my friend. I also don't like to "count chickens before they hatch", especially in regards to building up someone else's hopes. So, I truly was not certain of a donation at all when I wrote that prayer in my journal. I also know to compare my friend to the widow of Zarephath may put off some people. After all, she is not a widow...but she has experienced the death of a marriage. We are not living in the midst of a drought or a famine...but there are times that the figurative "brook" runs dry and she is solely dependent upon God's provision.

 But I have to go on...yes...there is even more...

While I am sitting at my kitchen table crunching numbers to see if we'll have enough to cover her oil costs, the phone rings...and it was her! She had some great news to share with me about a possible opportunity that would help to provide for her! She asked me to keep the details under wraps until she knows more. Again, we're not counting those chickens yet! But, I could tell in her voice that she was maybe a little disappointed that I wasn't as excited for her as she thought I would be. There's a few reasons for this: 1. It takes me awhile to process things anymore! (age, I guess!) 2. It almost felt like she "caught" me when the phone rang while I'm researching oil delivery companies on the internet for her, and 3. When I saw the caller ID, my heart stopped and I thought, "She's calling to tell me someone else gave her the money for her heating oil." She wasn't, but all of this combined to make me sound a little less than enthusiastic I'm sure. Although...I genuinely am thankful for how God is putting all of these pieces together for her!

Then today, after having exhausted any hope of getting her fuel to her anonymously, I felt almost sick to my stomach because I don't ever want her to be thankful to me for this donation. It didn't come from us, it didn't even come from the people that donated it...for "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (James 1:17) Praise God...even when I dropped it off...He took care of my fear of the focus being thrown onto me...she wasn't home! Her boys were, so she'll know I dropped it off...but I told them that it wasn't from me. One of the boys said, with a knowing nod, "Ohhh...it's a secret." Not wanting him to keep secrets from his mom I said, "No...it's really not from us...it's from someone else. So tell her just to be thankful to God for it."

And that's how it should be!

Amen!

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