I don’t always like doing what I’m told. I have a choice either to dig in my heels or to ask God to help me acquiesce or obey. Perhaps this stubbornness—and my prayer that God would soften me—helps me notice Elijah’s pliability and obedience. When God tells him to do something, he does it. And God uses him in His redemption story.
Throughout today’s narrative, we see Elijah hearing and obeying God. After the prophet announced to King Ahab the coming drought (1 Kings 17:1), the “brook dried up” (v. 7). Elijah followed God’s commands by moving to the stream where the ravens cared for him (vv. 5–6). He then obeyed God in seeking food from a widow in Zarephath (v. 10 ). She too obeyed, although she thought she would die. But Elijah promised her, on behalf of God, that her oil and flour will not run dry. And indeed, “the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry” (v. 16).
We aren’t God’s prophets, but we can echo Elijah’s character by building up our ‘obedience muscle’. Perhaps we can commit to acting on a nudge we sense when reading Scripture, or we can ask God to show us an area of life we keep from Him. As we obey, we can pray God will use us in His great redemption plan.
By Amy Boucher Pye
REFLECT & PRAY
Do you find obedience easy or difficult, or somewhere in between? How have you seen God follow through on His promises when you have obeyed Him?
Loving God, You are good and You are holy. I want to obey You, for I know You want the best for me. Mould me into Your image.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
An interesting part of this story is the difference between what God tells Elijah and the widow’s initial response. God said he’d “directed” a widow to supply him with food (1 Kings 17:9). But when he asked the widow for bread, she replies that she doesn’t have enough to spare. She even swears by “the Lord your God” (v. 12 )—a direct reference to the One who gave her the instructions. It was common to swear by a deity to prove someone was telling the truth—in this case the woman did so to declare that she didn’t have the means to feed Elijah. Despite the reminder (from her own lips) of the instructions she received, she obeys only after Elijah reassured her that God would provide for them until the famine was over.
J.R. Hudberg
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