When Elijah left the dried and caked up cracking creek bed, he went according to the Word of the Lord. "Go now to Zarepheth...for I have commanded a widow there to feed you." (I Kings 17:9). However, as we read the story which unfolds in the next few verses, it would seem that the widow failed to get the message. When Elijah asked for some water and food, she gave him the water and said, "...I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we eat it, and die." (I Kings 17:12) There is nothing about her words which speaks of a long term source of food for the hungry prophet. She must have missed the commanding voice of God!
But, it turned out to be a very special relationship between the two people in such need. The woman blessed the prophet and the prophet's presence blessed the woman and her son. As long as the drought lasted she always had meal and oil and both she and the prophet had food to eat. Had the prophet not come, she and her son would have died. Her generosity with the little she had was used by God in a way which was nothing short of a miracle.
Miracles happen when people realize that they are in a blessing relationship. It may not be a miracle as big as an unending supply of food, but miracles come in all shapes and sizes. It may be in the form of playing for an unexpected moment with a child, or in a moment of helping someone load groceries in a car in the middle of hot parking lot, or simply taking a moment to ask someone about their day with a sincerity that provides for time to listen. Elijah and the widow of Zarepheth blessed each other. As we look across our day, we are likely to see blessings given and received as well.
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