1 Kings 17:14 - [Elijah said to the widow,] "For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.'"
Have you ever wondered if you were going to run out? Ya know! Are you going to run out of patience? Or courage? Or money? Or food? Or strength?
Yesterday, I thought I was going to run out of gas. My car dashboard meter said I had fifteen miles of gas for the eight miles I needed to go. In less than a mile, the meter said I had two miles of gas remaining. Do the math! Problem! And lots of praying, since part of the trip was getting my son to his high school football team workout at six a.m. on dark lonely roads. I thanked God when we didn't run out. I mean, who else would you thank when your fears of running out don't come true?
Have you ever wondered if you were going to run out? Of anything? Today's Bible story is about a widow and her son who were sure they and their provision were done. But God spoke through Elijah and told her "The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty." God's call was for her, and God's call is for us, to stop living as if our provision is done.
Because we think we're going to run out.
Ultimately, none of us knows if we'll have enough, but we do know the Lord who provides.
Sometimes I myself wonder if I'll have enough Day of Praise stories to keep this thing going.
And then, I'll step off an hospital elevator and someone asks, "Did you see anyone in a wheelchair down there?" I stop for a moment and say, "Is this a trick question? This is a hospital. It has lots of wheelchairs!" Now, that would be a good story to go with a Day of Praise.
And then, I'll bump into someone who tells me they went shooting chickens earlier that day. I ask 'em if indeed they'd killed any. They look at me funny and say they were taking pictures, shooting a camera, not a gun. Hey, how was I to know that people do photo-ops with chickens? Now, that would be a good story to go with a Day of Praise.
And then, yesterday, somebody else's huuuuuuuuge mistake erased my work. Aaaaaaa, frustrated! I wanted to grab from my chocolate stash in my desk. But I gave up chocolate and sweets for Lent, so the Holy Spirit tells me to reach for Christ instead. And that would be a good Day of Praise story too.
Oops! I just used my stash of Day of Praise stories.
Will I have something come to mind for tomorrow? Will I have enough?
Ya know, I don't know!
None of us ever really knows if we're going to run out of patience. Or courage. Or money. Or food. Or strength. Or stories, but we do know the Lord who provides!
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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