Wednesday, March 17th1 Kings 17:7-16
Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 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?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
“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.”
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. 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.’”
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. 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.
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God Is Faithful. God is Faithful.
Rev. Liz Albertson
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Note: this devotion is best read aloud (in your head or out loud).
The brook dried up….
Already in hiding, utterly alone and eating raven scraps (best not think too hard on that one) for what might arbitrarily be a few years.
I don’t think the chariot of fire is worth it. Even if you get a cool theme song for all of eternity.
But there you are. The brook is dried up, so you get up and follow. God has provided so far, even if it is by raven express. God is, was, and will be faithful.
God is faithful.
God is faithful.
These words echo with each step.
Town gate.
From ravens to widow.
“A little water, please,” you plead knowing you are already asking too much. And “a piece of bread” – desperate, hungry.
If not from her, then who?
God is faithful. The widow will provide.
The widow has nothing. How can you ask someone who has nothing left to give to be there, to show up, to provide?
I was on the phone after a long, exhausting, lonely day–nothing left to give, but hungry for friendship so far away. I called a friend. It turned out they, too, had a tired day, they were worn thin, pulled in so many directions–frayed and distracted. As I listened, my own weariness gave rise, I muted the phone and choke back my silent sobs. I nailed on my pleasant phone voice and responded with the proper sounds of empathetic listening.
The brook is dry.
So many of us have moments when we have little to offer; our patience reserve has run dry. Yet somehow in our emptiness, there is life. Something more.
God is faithful. God takes our little bit of nothing left and makes something…
My friend is not fooled–I have good friends–God is faithful. Unmuted we both cry and laugh; remember and lament. We hang up a new and different kind of tired.
Almsgiving–alms-receiving. From poverty not abundance. From empty weariness God brings us respite.
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God, you are faithful. You bring rest and respite to all sorts of weariness. Take our little bits of nothing left and create a space for others. Settle me that I might be refreshed by you. Amen.
Rev. Liz Albertson
Vice President for Admissions and Student Services
Wartburg Theological Seminary
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