Widow of Zarephath

After Elijah told Ahab there wouldn’t be rain until he proclaimed it, God led him to Brook Cherith to hide from Ahab and Jezebel. But then the drought causes the brook to dry up. 

God directed Elijah to head to Zarephath, which was in Sidon, Jezebel’s homeland. God told him he had commanded a widow there to provide for him. 

Elijah entered the city gates, and there was a widow gathering sticks. 

He asked her for a cup of water, and a morsel of bread. She explained to him that she didn’t have any bread. In fact, all she had was a handful of flour and a small amount of oil, and she was gathering the sticks so that she might prepare a last meal for her and her son before they died from starvation.

And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” (1 Kings 17:13-14 ESV)

So she did what Elijah requested, and she and her son and Elijah ate for many days and her flour and oil didn’t give out. 

It’s easy for us to feel like we have nothing of worth to offer God, but just as he used the poor widow woman to provide for Elijah, he can use you to impact lives as well. 

Read about the widow of Zarephath in Scripture: 1 Kings 17:8-16

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