Lies We Believe

As Jesus' grace enables us to embrace His promises, He can help us understand the lies we have come to believe about God. In the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, God led Elijah to confront the lies a poor widow believed by giving her the option of following a powerful promise (1 Kings 17:8-16).?

In telling this classic Old Testament story, I imagine the widow hunched down near the city gate, picking up a few sticks for a fire. Elijah approached and caught her attention. She looked up as he came closer and presented a request, "Please bring me a little water in a cup." She straightened out her weak legs to fetch the water, then as she turned to go, he added, "Please also bring me some bread to eat."

I can imagine how, upon hearing his request, her eyebrows pushed down and her mouth popped open as she responded in a solemn yet frustrated tone, "I was just out here gathering sticks for a small fire, so that I can take my last handful of flour and the last few drops of oil I have to bake a small cake of bread for my son and myself before we starve to death."

We could call this moment her tipping point. She was willing to get the prophet some water but giving him their last morsel of food became too much. Her response shows her hopelessness. Yet Elijah didn't back down. He challenged her: "Do not be afraid. Go and make a small cake for me first, bring it to me, then go and make some for yourself."

Oddly, Elijah did not offer her consolation. No soft, compassionate words dropped from his lips. He didn't say, "Oh, that's OK, I know it's been hard. Forget what I said. You don't have to get me any food." Instead, he pressed her on the point. How could Elijah do this??

The woman must have thought, you don't get it, do you? I have only enough flour for one small cake. How can you ask me for our last meal? Yet, Elijah gave her a promise to trust in: "For thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth'" (1 Kings 17:14 NKJ).

God created a struggle for this widow: eat the last bit of food and die or give it up and see what God will do. When she mixed the flour in a bowl and waited for the bread to bake, did she perhaps review her options? Did she think: this drought has been awful, should I trust what Elijah has said? Does it matter? We will all be dead soon anyway. Yet might Elijah's promise be true?

In the end, she decided to give her last bit of food to Elijah. At that point, the promise God offered became a reality—a reality that lasted until the end of the drought. Each day, God provided her with enough flour and oil—but just enough for a single day. After she chose to follow God's option, the promise became a reality, and she discovered more about trusting God's options.

In the same way that He helped the poor widow, Jesus wants to help us. The widow felt abandoned, left to die, beyond help, and hopeless. Yet, the woman rejects her perspective on the future and follows Elijah's words.

We have the same challenge. We can cling to the lies we have been told about God and our future or accept the promises Jesus provides. We can get frustrated with challenges like expensive repairs, rising food costs, missed promotions, uncooperative coworkers, or being the victim of gossip. Yet, the real question becomes, have we given up on Jesus and the future He has for us? Do we allow Jesus' words to define His love for us or our circumstances to define His character? The story about the poor widow reveals that Jesus can help believers accept the future Jesus has for us, even when everything seems to be going wrong. Elijah asked the widow to follow God’s option before the promise become a reality.

?With the powerful promise that became a reality in the widow's life, it would seem that she should not have any more doubts about God's goodness. However, sometime later the widow's son died. She told Elijah, "What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?" (1 Kings 17:18) Just as can happen in our lives, the loss of her son brought back all the doubts about God's goodness. After Elijah brought her son back to life, she said, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth" (1 Kings 17:24).

Jesus knows all about our struggles, and He is dying to help us, or, should I say, He died to help us. He seeks to help us understand God's character of love and the wonderful future He has for His followers. When we understand His extreme commitment to us, it helps us to realize that He always has our best interests in perspective. He can help us with the lies we have come to believe about God. He can help us choose to follow the options God places before us and in doing so, see His promises become a reality in our lives.