Every day we make choices that impact our lives and that of others. The question is, are we willing to take our choices a step further even when it is out of our comfort zone? The poor widow of Zarephath did just that when the prophet Elijah showed up and asked her for water. He even pushed it when he asked her to bring him some bread with the water.
She replied, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” (1 Kings 17:12)
However, this widow stepped out of her physical, emotional, and mental pain to grant Elijah’s requests. She chose faith in Elijah’s God. I hope that the widow of Zarephath’s story will remind us to commit ourselves to grow in faith.
This message is excerpted from “Are you up for a journey of faith?” by Hannah Fleming from the October 8, 2018, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today we commemorate Birgitta of Sweden, renewer of the church, 1373.
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