This settled sweetly when I read it this morning. All who have been called by God (and obviously, who answered His call), we are loved. Did you hear that? We are loved! I think our souls forget that from time to time. It’s good to be reminded, don’t you think?
Father loves us! But the verse does not stop there. Read on. AND keeps you (us) safe in the care of JESUS CHRIST.
I love, love, love the boldness of Elijah in this chapter 18!
Let me share why with you.
Ahab is king and a bad king he is. In my humble opinion mean and scared as a snake.
But nonetheless king – with all the powers of the office.
And he’s shall we say so upset with Elijah that he wants him dead — graveyard dead.
Elijah knows this.
Does that stop him from confronting Ahab?
Nope.
Read with me.
15 Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.”
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is this you, you troubler of Israel?”
18 He said, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and you have followed the Baals.
19 Now then send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
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Pretty gutsy, don’t you think?
I’d like to be that gutsy!
But I am also mindful gutsy can fail.
Gutsy can get full of gutsy and crumble.
The Bible puts it take heed lest you fall — I think.
Let me look that up.
1 Corinthians 10:12
Perhaps you will use the link and read the verse in context.
GOD responded to Elijah.
Do you know the story?
Elijah vs the prophets of Baal.
I hope you will read the Chapter — GOD was faithful!
GOD also brings rain by the chapter’s end too.
If you read on into Chapter 19, Elijah keeps saying he’s the only prophet left.
His gutsy didn’t last.
And by the way, he was not the only Prophet left.
1 Kings 19:18 tells how many others had not bowed the knee to Baal.
Take heed lest we fall.
We are not alone.
GOD always has a People.
Let us pray for one another and seek each other out as the days grow darker — amen?
Perhaps it’s just me but I think it would be hard to do what Elijah did.
I think it would be hard to ask the Widow of Zarephath to feed me first.
Feed me before you feed your son or yourself.
I just think that was not an easy request to make.
I think he had to have a sure Word from The LORD to come up with such a thought as that!
You see I think speaking the Truth of GOD to the people of the world can look like hate to them.
But he was not talking to a woman of the world, he was talking to a woman who believed GOD.
What do you think?
She obeyed.
She cooked what looked to be the last of her meal and her oil, but it wasn’t.
The Bible tells us
15 She went and acted according to what Eliyahu had said; and she, he and her household had food to eat for a long time.
16 The pot of meal did not get used up, nor did there fail to be oil in the jug, in fulfillment of the word of Adonai spoken through Eliyahu.
Source
Would you think with me how amazing this is?
This Widow from Zarephath likely did not have her own set of Old Testament Scrolls and neither did she have the indwelling Holy Spirit but she obeyed GOD in the face of not only her death but the death of her son.
I have to ask — what excuse do we have for disobedience?
But I can’t leave us here just yet; one more thing.
Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of GOD.
Do you know that Scripture? Romans 10:17
It worked that way in Zarephath too.
Here’s how I know.
13 Eliyahu said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go; and do what you said; but first, use a little of it to make me a small loaf of bread; and bring it out to me. After that, make food for yourself and your son.
14 For this is what Adonai the God of Isra’el, says: ‘The pot of meal will not get used up, nor will there fail to be oil in the jug, until the day Adonai sends rain down on the land.’”
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Faith (trust) cometh by hearing and hearing by the WORD of GOD.
He spoke the WORD of GOD to her; she heard and she acted in faith – she trusted the WORD of GOD she heard.
So I have to ask again.
What excuse do we have?
