God's Provision No 2

"(10)'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'm 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 afterwards make some for yourself and your son.' "                                                   Read 1 Kings 17:8 - 16  (v10-13).  NKJV

Let's look a little further into God's provision. Here we see Elijah teaching a poor widow about faith. She was destitute and had only a very small amount of food left for her and her son. Things were so bad, she felt that they would die through lack of funds. God had told Elijah to go Zarephath - a city on the Mediterranean coast in Phoenicia - and there would be a widow there who would provide for him. Elijah obeyed and called to the widow as he entered the city. Firstly he asked her to bring him a drink of water and then, called to her as she went to do this, asking her to bring him a small piece of bread also.

She was totally honest with Elijah and told him that she only had a small amount of food left for the day and this was for her and her son. After that, they may as well die. God, however, wanted Elijah to teach her about giving a seed-faith. There are two important principles demonstrated here in this scripture. First, we must give something out of our need. This involves our faith. The woman had needs herself but as she gave firstly, out of her need to God's prophet, Elijah, God would multiply what she was given back. Second, she had to give first before she received anything. 

This is the whole thing about faith and the one that people struggle with - big time. We must give from what we have first before we can expect to get anything back. This is called sowing a seed. A farmer doesn't just dig some soil up and there is a load of potatoes there. He firstly has to sow the seed and the principle is the same for us.
I have heard people say that they can't afford to tithe because what they have, they have to live on. It sounds hard, but, a person can't afford not too tithe. It's God's in the first place and if we want Him to bless us, we must honour and bless Him first. And this is what Elijah was teaching the widow. 
When she obeyed and provided Elijah's need, God blessed her and provision came to her for many a year.

Are you struggling with lack of funds and have fear about tithing or giving your money and resources to people that God directs to you? Elijah said to the widow, 'DO NOT FEAR.' And God is saying the same to you too.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com