Empowered

Our Insufficiency is the Fertile Soil in which God Plants His Abundance! 

Life Lessons Devotional Series, Wednesday May 17, 2023

Scripture: 1 Kings 17: ¹² “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” ¹³ Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’” ¹⁵ She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. ¹⁶ For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

Life Lesson: Our insufficiency is the fertile soil in which God plants His abundance!  Do not fear having too little, rather see it as an opportunity to trust God for His provision.

– The impoverished widow had been called by the Lord to provide for God’s servant. The question that she as well as most who have been likewise called by the Lord wrestle with is, how?   How do I give out of my limited resources? 

– Paul wrote concerning this in 2 Cor. 9: ⁶ Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ⁹ As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
    their righteousness endures forever.”

¹⁰ Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹ You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

– So now, we are confronted with what to believe? Do we trust God and give out of our meager resources or do we horde all we can for ourselves?  This contrast is even more crucial than we usually understand when it comes to our walk of faith. Christ told a parable of a master who commended his “dishonest manager” for acting shrewdly in settling accounts owed by generously reducing their debt load.  There we read, Luke 16: ¹⁰ “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. ¹¹ So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?”  The implication of the question is far more profound than we would like to admit.   

– Generosity is a virtue anyone can practice, however many refuse to be generous and subsequently pay a terrible price for it, Luke 16:19-31, Luke 12:13-21, Malachi 3:6-10.  The widow, despite her meager resources chose to trust in the word of the Lord and subsequently she received a miracle for her faith that abundantly provided for both her and her son!