ZPCBlog

About the author: Originally from Cairo, Egypt, Hany and Mona have been serving among the Arab immigrants in Spain since 1993. Several ZPC short-term mission teams have served with them over the years. Last fall, we had the privilege of hosting them at ZPC.

Today's Scripture:1 Kings 17:2-16

In this time we are all affected by the pandemic and its disruption to all of our normal activities, future plans and relationships, this story has taken a new meaning for me.

In today's scripture, the prophet Elijah was not exempted from the consequences of the drought. Likewise, we as children of God are facing the same challenges of this pandemic like everyone else. For sometime God has provided for Elijah through the ravens and the brook. However, in verse 7, even this provision has stopped and God provided through another source. It seems to me that God allowed the brook to dry up so Elijah would know that the source of his provision was neither the brook nor the ravens. The key phrase that is repeated in verses 4 and 9 is: “I (God) have directed...” God is the one that orders and directs the sources of our nourishment. In the time when the sources we use to get our nourishment from seem too dry or cease to flow, would this be an opportunity to understand in a deeper way that our true nourishment comes from the source that never dries nor ceases to flow?

Even more interesting is that the widow of Zarephath would be the source God orders to provide. A very needy widow with barely enough resources to survive herself would be asked to do a series of illogical things. First, she is asked to give a drink of water. Remember, the whole land is in drought for a long time. Yet as she obeys; “As she was going to get it" (verse 11),she was asked to give even more than the drink of water. She was asked to give her last meal. I am so surprised of the order of the request in verse 13 “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.” Yet this exact order was the key to her miracle.

In this time of “emotional drought,” fear, and uncertainty it is so easy to focus on myself and my needs. Does God want to show me another way? Is it time to give our lives to truly find it?

Activities:

• Every day I could ask God what is the little flour and oil I have that seems so precious in this time of global drought. Maybe, a word of encouragement, a phone call, a prayer or anything that could nourish someone else. I can share it first for this person then trust God for my own need. He promised “my cup will overflow.”

Prayer:

God,
I thank you for this opportunity to experience you as our unfailing, never ceasing, and always flowing source of joy and true fulfillment. Teach us to trust you even when we feel we need to be taken care of. Teach us to share the little we have in the time of need to experience the fullness of your provision.

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