"So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.
And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days."
1 Kings 17: 10-15
The Widow. What do we know about her? Not much.
We do not know her whole story, but we do know she knew a prophet of God. She had already been practicing obedience and sacrifice since she was quick to make food for Elijah before her family. This is a woman of great faith. I don't doubt she also felt fear and discouragement, accepting the fact she was going home to prepare her last meal. Yet, maybe she felt some hope when she met the prophet Elijah. Maybe she knew her obedience was going to be blessed?
"We've been asked to trust that God knows what He's doing with us even though we cannot see how He can possibly do it. Sometimes to move past the fear, I literally close my eyes and try to see with the 'eye of faith' (Alma 5:15). It looks forward to a future that is so bright, even when things feel dark right now. Will you be brave and use this eye of faith?" -Sister Tamara Runia
This widow was clearly brave using the eye of faith to walk towards a bright future. She was like Nephi when he was commanded to go and get the brass plates.
"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." -1 Nephi 3:7
How often are we asked to obey a commandment, moving forward in faith, not knowing how it will be acoomplished?
I believe this happens more often than we realize. Then how come we do not recognize these moments? Do we pass them off as our "strong moments"? Moments what we were able to do by ourselves. We learn from Nephi that the Lord will "prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." Is that way prepared before we are even asked or is it being prepared as we go, because the Lord is with us preparing the way before we take the next step?
"Christ's power is not an emergency generator that turns on once our supply is exhausted. It is not a booster engine once we run out of steam. Rather, it is our constant energy source. If we think of Christ only making up the difference after we do our part, we are failing to keep the promise we make each Sunday to remember Him always." - Elder Brad Wilcox
We can see evidence that Christ has been with the widow this whole time. If she only had a handful of meal and a little oil left, then she could have run out of meal and oil way before the prophet Elijah came. But she didn't. Instead, her supplies were spread out to that very moment, when the Lord needed her to help another. He was already helping her and preparing her to demonstrate her faith and sacrifice her food for another, for a prophet of the Lord.
She was always remembering Him, because He was already with her.
I have the opportunity now to demonstrate my faith. Tyler and I are trying to be obedient in a commandment from the Lord. We do not know how we will be able to show our obedience just yet, but we are continuing, overcoming our fear, not knowing what is before us, but looking forward with faith toward a bright future with Christ. In the mean time, I need to do better at looking for how the Lord is already with me. Equally yoked and carrying this load. Helping my supplies, my energy to be sustained and to last until my demonstration of faith. I need to be more observant in seeing how He is preparing the way for us AS He walks with us.
Maybe it isn't the right time for us to demonstrate our obedience and obtain the desired blessing, but it is the right time for us to draw closer to Christ through diligent study and prayer. It is the right time for us to build our family and our marriage. It is the right time for us to learn how to improve our talents and knowledge. It is the right time for us to be working on our home and land. It is the right time for us to be improving as disciple leaders.
I pray that I can let go of my arrogance. Christ is already with me and helping me. As I draw closer to Him by praying and studying His word my eyes are opened to see the evidences that He is with me and has always been. He loves me too much to abandon me. He wants to bless me and He wants to help me obtain those blessings. I need to live my life always remembering Him and seeing Him.
My energy and strength are spent. I only have a handful of meal and a little oil left, but look at how many meals I have already been able to prepare. I need to look forward to the feast He will help me prepare with the little I have left.
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