Pastor’s Column 8/3/2025

PASTOR’S COLUMN

13 “But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said but make a little bread for me first. Then use what is left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. 14  For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!” 15  So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days.  16 There was always enough flour and oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised.” 1 Kings 17: 13-16, NLT                                    

“When What is Left, Is Enough”

It is difficult to tell people who are starving what they have left is sufficient to meet their needs. This is certainly so during famine, whether the result of nature or human forces. Looking at starving children in today’s Gaza region scraping near empty pots of dried porridge with their emaciated fingers is not a promising sight. Gasping at the swollen stomachs and bulging eyes of the hungry engenders anger and sadness. “Food insecurity” is  a vexing issue. Trying to imagine how long what is left confronts many people. This was likely the concern a woman in the ancient town of Zarephath had when she and her son was down to the very end of their provisions. By her account, they had just enough flour to prepare a small cake of bread and a miniscule amount of oil to bake it. The woman surmised she and her son had enough of this food to sustain them for a day – then they would die of starvation. Elijah the prophet, on a divine mission, was directed by God to approach the woman and her son, and to seek lodging at her house. After helping the woman gather tiny broken tree branches for her fire, Elijah asked the woman for something to eat. He told her if she  fed him, she and her son would have enough food to last until the famine ended. The woman obeyed. What she had leftsustained her family throughout the  entire famine!