Sometimes I think we read the Bible too stoically. Sometimes I think we forget that the characters in the stories embedded in the Old Testament were people just like us. They had hopes and dreams; they believed and they doubted; they felt joy and experienced despair; they suffered real pain; they didn’t know what was going to happen next.

Imagine what it was like for her, just her and her little boy. Her husband had died, and together, mother and son were starving to death.

They were victims of a widespread famine, and there was no place to go and nothing to do about their plight. She had faced the reality of their coming demise. She would take her little pot of flour and the little bit of oil she had left, gather some sticks, make a little cake, eat this final meal with her son and lay down to die.

What would you be thinking if it were you? What would you be thinking about God? What would you say to your son? And how would you respond if someone you didn’t know came and asked you to give them the ingredients for your last meal on earth?

The Story

I want you to stop and read 1 Kings 17:8-24. Pretend that you’re there. Put yourself in the shoes of the woman.

Sometimes I think we read the Bible too stoically. Sometimes I think we forget that the characters in the stories embedded in the Old Testament were people just like us. They had hopes and dreams; they believed and they doubted; they felt joy and experienced despair; they suffered real pain; they didn’t know what was going to happen next.

The Widow of Zarphath

Imagine the suffering of this woman – not only was she grieving the loss of her husband, but she was now forced to face that she and her son would die too. There was no denying the dire state that she was in. How could it get any worse? How could life be darker?

But what she didn’t know was that God had chosen to shine the light of glorious life on her. God had already chosen for her to be part of something more wonderful than anything her broken heart could have ever imagined.

God had chosen this weak and broken lady to be part of something that would influence people of faith down through eternity. God had chosen to not only give her life, but to declare through her that he is the Resurrection and the Life.

The method of all of this would be an outrageous request, one that I honestly think I would have refused.

The Request

We meet the widow at the city gates, gathering sticks to make a fire for her funeral meal. A stranger, who we know as Elijah, asks her for a drink of water: “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” (v. 10)

The widow’s response to this first request amazes me. Why? Because she steps out of her own suffering to provide this man she doesn’t know with a drink. Remember: read the story like you’re there.

Read More