The Story of Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath (1 Kings, 17)

No rain fell in the land of Israel because the people had sinned against God, and Elijah must pray for rain before it will start raining again. The brook from which Elijah drank water got smaller and smaller until it was completely dry. Now what did he do? Did he pray for rain? No, it was not yet time for God to send rain in Israel, but God told Elijah to go to Zarephath where a widow woman would take care of him. When he arrived at the gate of the city, he saw the widow woman picking up some sticks. Elijah asked her for a drink of water, and as she was going after the water he also asked her for a little bread. The woman told Elijah she had no bread. All she had was a handful of flour in a barrel and a little oil in a jar. She had been gathering sticks to make a fire to bake one last cake for her son and herself before they died of hunger. That’s how bad it was in the land of Israel after the rain stopped falling. Elijah told the woman to go ahead as she had planned but make him a little cake first and then make another cake for her son and herself. Now here’s the special part of this Bible Story, and God performed a miracle to make it happen. Elijah told the widow woman that according to the word of the Lord the barrel of flour and the bottle of oil would never be empty until the day the Lord would send rain again upon the earth. So the widow woman took care of Elijah after the brook Cherith dried up as God had said, but who really took care of Elijah, the woman, and her son? Who put more flour and oil into the vessels each day as the woman took out what she needed? It was God, and God will always take care of us if we trust him.