God Gives Us Food

Today's Memorial Box story is a recent one.  January began with a hard look at our finances, and a renewed emphasis to live within the money that we had, which for that month, meant a very meager grocery budget.  To keep ourselves on track we set up an envelope with cash, and decided to only use cash for our grocery shopping that month.  Midway through the month it was beginning to look like it would be possible to actually stay within that amount, since we'd done a lot of eating from the pantry and freezer.

A challenge came with a request from a close relative to stay with us for a while.  We both strongly felt that this was something we were supposed to do without accepting rent money, at least at first.  But I'll admit, I was really wondering how our grocery budget was going to stretch to cover an additional adult.

That Sunday as I was thinking on a phrase during the sermon on the power of God's words, I opened up my Bible.  It fell open to 1 Kings 17, which tells the story of the widow of Zarephath and Elijah.  Her provisions nearly gone, the prophet asks her to make him bread first, and miraculously, the oil and flour don't run dry.  As I began thinking on the story, I glanced down at my feet, and saw the purple ribbon from my son's Sunday school craft ~ a paper plate with glued on photos of food and the words, God gives us food.   Out of curiosity, I picked up his lesson paper to see what Bible story they had been learning about.  Yes, it was Elijah and the Widow.

As I saw it, I remembered that the night before, our nightly Bible reading with the kids had included the story of Elisha and the widow's oil from 1 Kings 4.

The Widow’s Oil

1The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”

2Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.”

3Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”

5She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”

But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

7She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

 This was getting to be too many references to just be coincidence.  But lest I have any doubts, when I sat down to do my Bible reading that afternoon, one of the chapters scheduled was Luke 4.  Verses 25-26 read:  I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was severe famine in the land.  Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.

With renewed confidence that God could stretch our grocery budget, I tackled the project of getting the room ready.  The end of the month brought a huge financial challenge when one of the core components of our heating system went out and needed to be replaced, but He was faithful to provide for it.  And then, just before our house guest was to arrive, an unexpected piece of mail arrived.  A completely unexpected refund of something from several years in the past that was enough to cover the extra food for another adult for the month.  And here at the end of February, it has been enough.  God gives us food!   That paper plate is hanging in our dining room ~ just a preschool craft to some, but a special reminder that God has it all under control to me.

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Do you keep a record of the ways that you have seen God work in your life? Last year I ran across the concept of a Memorial Box from Linny at A Place Called Simplicity.  In times when darkness is threatening to overwhelm and God feels far away (I'm sure had a few of those recently!), going over the stories of God's faithfulness is a spiritual life preserver.