1 Kings 17:13-15

13 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.

14 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.

15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

I want to consider today in this scripture the last verse. We see in the 13th verse the man of God says to not fear (to trust me) and bake the cake. In the 9th verse (not shown) God tells Elijah that he has commanded this woman to sustain him but now we see that commandment put to the test. How many times have we seen this played out in our lives? Our God gives us direction and we come to a moment of faith where we have to determine within ourselves whether we will trust God or move against his direction. We don’t know how long it has been since this command of God and the appearance of Elijah, but we see in this moment a decision has to be made. Will I go with what I know I have, or will I trust God to do something I am not sure about?

Let’s look at what is at stake, she states that she has enough meal for her and her son for the day and when it is gone then they will die, but note the benefit received “she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.” way more than just her son. You may not understand why God is asking something of you, you may not perceive all the benefit that will come from you following his will, all God is asking is “Do you trust me?”. You follow and do as God asks and you receive the blessing of your action but if you look again, beyond you, how many were “fed” by your act of obedience? How many were lifted up because you humbled yourself and followed the lord? How many received the blessing that got them through a harder time than you saw because you made a stand for God?

My friend, do not discount these acts of obedience to God’s will. You may think they do not amount to much, but God takes these and feeds the multitude. One little boy brought a lunch big enough for him and fed five thousand. That “little” testimony you have, so small in comparison to others you think, may be the instrument that sustains someone in their journey for a long time after you have forgotten that you gave it.

In the end it is not the amount of meal in the barrel or the amount of oil in the vessel it is about the amount of willingness in the heart to be an instrument of God’s Grace. It is not about will I be ok when this is done, but how many others will be helped because I stood for God? How many others got what they needed to make it to the top of the mountain because of my obedience? In truth, I may never know, but if I can be of use to you God then oh Lord make me a vessel and place the meal and the oil in me that is needed for this day that you may give liberally to all that surround me for your honor and glory.

-Pastor Scott