God Provided for Elijah

1 Kings 17:1-24

“The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening and he drank from the brook.” 1 Kings 17:6

The kingdom of Israel remained divided. The ten tribes in the north were called Israel, and the one tribe comprising the southern kingdom was called Judah. Both parts of the kingdom had various kings, and then Ahab became the king of Israel. The Bible says he did more evil than any of the kings before him. He married an evil woman named Jezebel, and they led their people in idol worship.

Elijah the prophet went to Ahab and told him there would be no more rain or even dew until Elijah said the word. No rain caused a widespread famine. God told Elijah to hide in the Kerith Ravine. There he drank from the brook, and the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and evening.

But by and by the brook dried up. God instructed Elijah to go to Zarephath. A certain widow lived there, and God had commanded her to supply Elijah with food. When Elijah arrived at the town gate of Zarephath, he saw a widow gathering sticks. He asked her to bring him a little water and a piece of bread. The widow said all she had was a handful of flour and a little oil. She was gathering the sticks to cook what she had, and then she expected that she and her son would die of starvation. Elijah instructed the widow to make him a little cake of bread and then to make cakes for herself and her son. He told her that God had promised him the jar of flour and the jug of oil would not run out until it rained again. The widow did as Elijah said, and the flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry.

Some time later, the son of the widow became sick and died. The widow blamed Elijah saying, “What have you against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

Elijah took the widow’s son and carried him to the upper room where he was staying. Then he prayed that God would restore the boy to life, and God heard and answered his prayer. When Elijah presented the boy alive to his mother, she said, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

God takes care of His own. We may not have everything we want, but He gives us all that we need. We have God’s wonderful promise in Philippians 4:19, “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” We need to believe God’s word, to trust Him, to claim His promises. Then we can sing this chorus with conviction and gratitude:

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided--

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Lyrics by Thomas Obadiah Chisholm

Music by William Marion Runyan