Elijah And The Widow

“And Elijah said to her, ‘Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son…’ … And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.” – 1 Kings 17:13, 15

It’s a bit strange that the widow God commanded to feed Elijah is one who had no food left. If I were Elijah, my first thought would be that perhaps I had got the wrong widow. The one gathering sticks for her last meal would not be the likeliest option. This widow was at the end of her rope, in a place of suffering, facing death. And the words Elijah says to her are curious. 

He does not tell her to go and see that her flour and oil are overflowing, and then to start feeling better. He tells her first not to fear, before possessing anything other than the word of God. He doesn’t tell her to make sure there’s enough flour and oil, and then to start making cakes. He says, just go and start doing it. He doesn’t tell her to first make one for her son, then herself, then Elijah (the order I would prefer in her place). He says, first make one for me, then for yourselves: the first cake she makes is an offering, a gift. The one that she labors in greatest faith over, and makes while feeling most hungry, is one she gives away. He doesn’t tell her exactly how many cakes will miraculously be provided, or for how long. She simply has to set aside her fear and live every day reaching into the jars.

I really like to know my odds of success before starting a venture. Much of my anxiety is related to concerns about outcome or perception. But that is not how God works. No matter how ridiculous the widow looks, going into her house to host someone when she barely has anything left, she is to go. No matter how unlikely the odds, she is to make the cakes. And as she walks back, as she scoops out the flour and pours out the oil and kneads and bakes, she is to leave aside her fear. I don’t know what that was like for her, but we are told that she went and did as Elijah said. And the thing that was to be her last act before death, becomes the beginning of new life. Later, when her son truly does die, she sees him raised back to life and says, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” There is something we experience about the presence of God, about the truth and power of his word in our lives, that only happens when we live in that space, when we reach into the jars every day not knowing what will happen, but believing without fear that the word of God is with us.