Faith and Miracles

June 10, 2013

Opening Hymns:
170 Oh How I Love Jesus http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh170.sht

Scripture Reading:
1 Kings 17:7-24

Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath

⁷ Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. ⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ⁹ “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” ¹⁰ So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”

¹² “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

¹³ Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”

¹⁵ She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. ¹⁶ For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

¹⁷ Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. ¹⁸ She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

¹⁹ “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. ²⁰ Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

²² The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. ²³ Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”

²⁴ Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

 

Message:
How quickly do we doubt? In today’s scripture a widow has faith in Elijah’s words about the flour and the oil. She is able to make bread for her, her son, and Elijah. How amazingd is it that the flour and oil would never run out. Surly she saw the miracle. Truly she believed that Elijah was a man of God. However, when tragedy strikes and her son is taken from her everything changes. The miracle doesn’t seem as miraculous. For her, what is the point of living when her son has been taken away? Elijah cries out to the Lord and her son is brought back to life. At this point all doubt has faded and the widow declares that he is a man of God.

This scripture is a reminder of how the Lord will provide for His children. There have been so many times in my life when I have doubted, just as the widow had. I’ve never even been faced with anything as hard as she has, but doubt still creeps in. After years of schooling, I am a nurse, I work in a hospital. I have an apartment to come home to. I have enough money for food and clean water… perhaps the doubting can be put aside for the Lord has provided for me.

Look at your own life. How has the Lord provided you with what you need? If you’re reading this I’m guessing that you are alive and are well off enough to afford a device that can connect to the internet. The Lord does provide! And perhaps when doubting is laid aside we can look at the blessings we have been given. We can rejoice that we don’t need to have a jar of flour and a jar of oil that never run out. Sadly, that is not the case for everyone. That is why we must reach out a hand to others. We can be like the jar of flour and of oil. We can be God’s miracle to others. Look at those in your community. Whose life can you touch? Who will you share a miracle with on this day? 

Time of Prayer
Dearest Heavenly Father, let us give to others what You have so graciously given to us. Forgive us when we doubt. Thank You for what You have provided for us in our lives. Amen.


The Lord’s Prayer


Closing Hymn
73 Oh Worship the Kings http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh073.sht

May the Lord bless you and keep you: May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you: May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." Amen.


Go in Peace, serve the Lord
Thanks be to God.