A Midsummer's Reflection Series

Monday, June 8, 2026

Meditation 8: 1 Kings 17:8-24 

The Bedroom, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Arles, October 1888

When we turn to that famous Old Testament story of Elijah seeking refuge with the widow at Zarephath, we find an interesting story of hospitality and God’s blessing. The prophet Elijah went without food or money to a widow who lived with her only son, in order to be the recipient of her hospitality. Elijah found himself in need, and the Lord God instructed him to go to the widow, who herself was in great need.

Elijah begged food from the woman, but she informed him she did not have even enough for her or her son. Elijah instructed her that God had promised to take care of them, and she believed Elijah. Although not an Israelite, the widow of Zarephath placed her trust in Elijah and in God, the God of Israel.

The widow placed her trust in the Lord and welcomed in Elijah, treating him with extreme hospitality in sharing with him the only sustenance she and her son had, and were likely ever to have again. God worked a miracle through Elijah and they were able to be fed. After this miraculous event, the widow’s son died. Elijah, through the power of God, raised her son back to life. Had the woman never welcomed Elijah, had she refused to offer him hospitality, she and her son might have died long before. Through her sharing her home and food with Elijah, even though she had almost nothing, the widow created a space of trust in God’s providence that allowed God to enter in and multiply her food, and, eventually, raise her son from the dead. 

This story is not intended to teach that our loved ones will never die. Nor is it teaching that we’ll never go without food or shelter or other basic necessities. Death is our common destiny, and many go without food and other basic needs. The point is that through trusting God in offering hospitality in the way that she did, the widow was able to experience the blessings she received from the hands of God. When we offer hospitality to others, we create the space necessary for God to act. We will always receive blessings when we follow the will of God and when we live the sort of outpoured love God calls us to live, even if those blessings come in disguise. We must, like the widow of Zarephath, place our trust in the Lord and in His messengers. 

Jesus, help us to trust in you and extend the hospitality of help and aid when we are called upon to do so, even if we ourselves need to be recipients of assistance. 

Dr. Jeffrey Morrow, Ph.D. is a professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville and the Director of the St. Paul Studies Center at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. He spent 15 years as a professor of theology at Seton Hall University’s Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology. In his final year in that role, Dr. Morrow worked on the Preaching as Hospitality Formation Program, writing these reflections on Scripture through a lens of hospitality. 

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