Listen to this article1 Kings 17:8-9 (ESV)
8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”
When God says… “I have commanded a widow to feed you”
Many of us have no idea concerning the practical implications of this.
Widows and orphans were the disadvantaged of the society. You were supposed to take care of widows.
James 1:27 (NET)
Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
It was and remains socially inappropriate for a grown man, let alone a man of God to be taken care of by a widow.
It’s no different than a grown man saying, I am going to be taken care of by an orphan.
Even though the presence of Elijah brought a miracle of food in her house all the society would have seen, is a grown man who does not work, eating a poor widow’s food. It would have been a humiliating situation for Elijah.
Secondly, how does it look when an unmarried man, goes to live with an unmarried woman for months: The suspicions.
To follow this word Elijah had to be humble, he had to be meek, he had to be willing to be mocked and laughed at by the Sidonians of that village.
He had to be willing to have people have a wrong view of himself, for people to think he was a predator, a conman.
It wasn’t easy. But that was God’s way of hiding him from an enemy that was all over. Know that Sidon was Jezebel’s country, and Jezebel was a princess of the Sidonians.
Anyways, why bring all this up?
God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Today, he expects the same obedience from you as he did from Elijah.
Many years ago, the Holy Spirit said to me, ‘If you want to follow and obey me then be prepared to be a disappointment to the people around you, because you can not follow me and please people at the same time.’
God will lead you through a path that requires you to be humble, where people may think you’re foolish, where though you’re a blessing, people will think you’re taking advantage.
God will take you through a journey where you’re the only one who knows and sees your value; where those around you don’t care or appreciate the vision God has given you.
Do not be shocked. Do not think you’re the first. Do not think you’re abandoned by God. All great people in the bible have gone through this experience.
Joesph as a slave in Egypt.
Moses going from the palace to working as a shepherd boy for 40 years in Midian.
David going from the palace, to pretending to be a mad man among the philistines and spending 17 years as a bandit in the wilderness.
God will humble you before he elevates you.
Matthew 23:11-12 (NET)
11 The greatest among you will be your servant.
12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
