Tag: widow

I have noticed an undeniable trend in my life. The only problems that challenge me are self-made. In other words, my life would be pretty good if I would just stay out of it. Well, since that is impossible, I must thank God for blessing me in spite of myself.

The same thing might be said about Elija. When we first meet him in 1 Kings 17:1, he seems to have boldly taken it upon himself to confront Ahab, the king of Israel. Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, worshipped Baal instead of the true God. Not only that, they compelled the entire nation to worship the false god. Nowhere does the Bible say that God asked Elijah to confront Ahab that first time (although, one might safely assume that).

To protect Elijah from the king after that confrontation, God leads Elijah to the desert, sits him down by a stream, and sends ravens to feed him. Before long, though, the stream dries up because of a drought that God had sent on Israel.

To save Elijah, God tells him to seek out a particular widow and ask her for food. The widow, though, has no food, and tells Elijah she was preparing her last meal from what little flour and oil that remained. It was just enough to feed her and her son. “After that is gone,” she said, “I will give up and die.”

“Do not fear,” Elijah tells her. “Bake me some bread, and feed me. I promise, there will be enough for you and your son. Furthermore, I promise that your supply of flour and oil will not run out until God sends rain.”

While Elijah comforts the widow and her son, he must have mused about the way God works. He may have spent weeks in the desert, placing his faith in God, and wondering if and when his life would get better. When the stream dried up, he undoubtedly prayed desperately.

“Don’t be afraid, Elijah.” God had reassured him. “For through your tragic situation, I am working. A widow will feed you, and in turn, I will feed her and her son.”

We don’t really know that God said that to Elijah, but that is the exact situation.

Have you ever stopped to consider how God is using you, even in the lowest, most traffic circumstances in your life? You may never know how you have touched others for the good. Don’t be afraid, for God is working through you, even when you feel like you are at your lowest.

For two decades Bell Telephone, and later AT&T, promoted themselves through a campaign with the slogan, “Reach out and touch someone.” One particular spot shows a sad clown calling his mother and transforming into a happy clown, followed by toddlers smiling when they hear a voice on the phone, and a grandmother calling her family, and a marching band crowded around a phone booth to speak with a bandmate who broke a leg. The point was that reaching out to loved ones can change their lives, at least if you do so over a Bell Telephone line.

The point is a valid one: we need to reach out and touch people. We’ve always had outerunrivaled in society. Victims of contagious diseases, the homeless, the mentally ill, the aged, the jobless, the working poor… are all left behind in post-Christian America.

There were no untouchables in Jesus’s mind. He ate dinner with folks considered the dregs of society. He made disciples of tax collectors. His best friends were crude fishermen. He accepted praise and offerings of women of ill repute. He asked assistance of a woman who had had several husbands and carried on affairs. He touched a leper.

If we want to live like Jesus… If we want to be Christ-like… If we want to reach the lost, then we too need to reach out and touch those that may seem untouchable. We need to feed the hungry, clothe the poor, shelter the homeless, find help for the mentally ill, spend quality time with the aged, minister to widows and orphans, and visit the imprisoned.

We need to offer a tender, loving touch to the untouchables.

Fear Not 365 – For God is Working Through You…

Reach Out and Touch Someone