Observations on Suffering
First, God would provide for Elijah
through a woman.
Second, this was a Gentile woman, a woman
outside the circle of God's own people.
Third, she was a poor, and destitute
widow facing a real possibility of starvation.
Application:
(1) Remember what God said through Isaiah (Isa. 55:8f,
God's ways are not ours)?
We might
also remember 1 Corinthians 1:27-29;
The
question is, what is our response when He chooses to
use the poor and the weak things in our lives?
(2) The
sources God chooses to use often test our submission and faith.
Principle: Never
get your eyes on the instrument or the conditions.
Always
look beyond the instrument to the real source of supply--the Lord.
Principle: Often God either chooses the despised and the small, or He
reduces our resources to teach us He is really the One who supplies.
Ever
wonder why He often has to reduce our own resources? Often that's what it takes to get us to turn
from our self to truly depend on Him for our needs.
In Judges
7 we have an good illustration from Gideon and God's
instruction to him.
(3) The
Lord uses His sources of supply to humble us.
(4)
Finally, this teaches us God can use any of us.
What was Elijah's response in verse 10?
Some things we need to think about!
·
Are
you in a spiritual relationship with Him such that you can hear God's
instructions?
·
What
are you facing in your life right now that needs God's supply? Are you resting in Him for your needs?
·
Where
is your focus? Are you focused on the
problem rather than the Lord? Are you
seeing the agents of supply in your life as totally inadequate with the result
you are questioning what God is able to do?
·
Does
your present condition look impossible?
Does it look like there is no way God can meet your needs through what
He has brought about into your life?
·
Have
you considered that before God meets your need, or
that in meeting your need, He wants to use you to meet the need of someone
else?
But the story also involves what God is doing in the life
of His people, the nation of
Elijah forms a model for us. We can learn from Elijah about God and about
ourselves--our needs, responsibilities in society, and our tendencies under the
pressure of the conflict.
On the other hand,
We are able to gain some insight into the background of
this incident in the remarks made by the Lord in Luke 4:23-27.
Because of their indifference, idolatry, and unbelief, God
sent Elijah out of the land and to a Gentile widow. This was a form of judgment that should have
a two-fold significance for us:
1. This was
somewhat prophetic of the church age when, because of
2. This also teaches us we should
never take our blessings for granted.
Privilege and position never guarantees success (1 Cor. 10:1-13).
God may
finally turn them over to the futility of their own solutions or strategies for
life (Rom. 1:18f; Amos
Both in 1
Kings 17:5 and
Rather
than waiting on the Lord,
Point: Elijah was operating by the principle of Proverbs
Again, being consistent in faith,
that is with the doctrine he knew, Elijah did not argue with the Lord, whine,
complain, nor run away. Instead, we
read, "So he arose and went."
When you and I measure what God is
doing, we tend to measure it by what we see and think according to the human
viewpoint.
The question we need to ask
ourselves is:
"DO I TEND TO LOOK AT HUMAN
CONDITIONS AS A BASIS FOR MY CONFIDENCE OR DO I SEE THROUGH THEM TO THE
SAVIOR?"
Note two things here:
(1) We find Elijah at the gate of the city of
(2) If Elijah was looking for something to encourage him
from the human standpoint of the widow, like a well-dressed woman living in a
luxurious house with a well-stocked pantry, his hopes were soon dispelled.
By human measurement, how
reasonable was it that this man of God could expect sustenance under her
roof?
But the path of obedience is the
path of faith that looks to God and not to circumstances both before and after
the will of God becomes clear.
Elijah's response is the issue at
point.