Grace Notes // When We Were Kings Week 8
The Widow’s Obedience
Written by Keli Miller
This week we dove into 1 Kings 17 and unpacked the miraculous act of God feeding Elijah and the Widow. It’s through their obedience that we get a window into the heart of God and Kingdom principles.
God partners with us.
God sent Elijah to be fed by someone who did not have enough to feed herself. Though her hands seem empty, God sees the gift that she has to bring. So often we want to write off our giftings and decide what can be used and what can’t be used by God.
Ephesians 2:10 says, For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Everyone has a call on their life. We have all been called to partner with God and build the kingdom.
Elijah’s calling to ministry is obvious - to proclaim God’s word and message. For this Widow, it was the call to share her last meal with God’s prophet - to invite him to stay in her house and provide him with hospitality.
What can seem like nothing to us, can be used by God to build faith for generations to come. We need to let God determine what is enough and what he can use. Whether we are serving in vocational ministry, or working for a secular company, all of our work is sacred and usable by God.
God was doing something through her to do something in her.
As I read about this Widow and how God used her to sustain one of his greatest prophets, I can’t help but also think of the heart transformation she experienced during her time with Elijah. She went from being ready to give up and die to day in and day out being miraculously provided for. As much as Elijah needed the Widow, the Widow needed Elijah.
In Luke 4, Jesus references Elijah and how he was hated by the people around him. I have to think that his time living with this widow was probably one of the sweetest seasons for both of them. God was healing the woman from the hardships and heartbreak her life had brought her.
Her willingness to be obedient to that first ask, created space for her own heart transformation.
Faith is not expressed by certainty but by obedience.
The Widow followed Elijah’s instructions and shared her last meal with him. Trusting God’s words that the jar of flour and the jug of oil would not run dry. She stepped out in obedience and created space where her faith could grow.
And her needs were met. God kept his word and fed the three of them never letting their food run out. Even during this miraculous provision the Widow’s son falls ill and dies. Often we are deceived into believing that if we obey perfectly, we can earn favor and blessing. This story tells us otherwise. We live and breathe by God’s grace alone.
Faith is not expressed by certainty but by obedience. The Widow was not certain that God would do what he said he would do, that she could trust the words of Elijah and that she wouldn’t die.
She was not certain of God’s goodness.
Immediately after her son dies she questions Eliah and God’s plans. She wonders if this is all due to her own sin, doubting God’s grace. It’s only after her son comes back to life that we see her profess certainty. Though she had experienced the miraculous hand of God she did not have certainty until this moment.
Do not discredit your faith because you have some doubts.
When I read through the “Faith Hall of Fame” in Hebrews 11, I can’t help but think that none of these all-stars had certainty. But they were obedient to the voice of God in their life and that is what faith requires of us.
In The Word
1 Kings 17
Hebrews 11
James 1:22-25
Processing
What has God asked you to be obedient with?
How can your day-to-day work serve God’s Kingdom?
What doubts or hesitations do you have? Take some time to be honest with God and pray through these.