When You Are Running Low

Two days ago I was fixing breakfast and I thought oatmeal would be a nice way to start the day. As I went over and picked up the container it basically jumped into my hands it was so light. I peeled open the cap, lifted the paper cover and to my surprise, there was only a small pile of oats left at the bottom. I smiled as I recalled the story of the woman Elijah was sent to in Zarephath.

What do you do when all you have is almost gone?

The story goes:

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

12 So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ ”

15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.

1 Kings 17:7-16

There was a severe famine in this woman’s country and she was a widow with a young son with little to eat or drink. She was literally scraping the bottom of the barrel to prepare one last meal. Next on the to do list, death! At least that was what she had predicted for her and her son. She had given up hope that they would make it out of the famine alive. And then Elijah shows up! How many times in your life have you reached a hopeless point, a situation you didn’t see a way out of, but God.

If it hadn’t been for the Lord on your side, you wouldn’t have made it, but He always showed up at the perfect time. Do we trust Him to provide for our needs? Do we understand that He sees them? Will we acknowledge His faithfulness when life feels grim and hopeless?

When I looked at that container of oatmeal, I saw an opportunity to trust Him and to thank Him. Are you in a place to thank Him? Why not start right now? He will provide for all of your needs, even in a famine, even in crisis, even in abandonment, even in heartache, even in betrayal, even in the summer, even in the winter, even in marriage, even when you are unmarried, even then and even when He will provide abundantly above all you can ask or think!

Pour this word into your soul today!

1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say;

2 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us:

3 Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:

5 Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.

6 Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.

7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.

8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 124