Key Lesson: God wants us to trust Him during the trials of life.

And It Came to Pass

Elijah has been facing many difficult challenges. Facing King Ahab with bad news from God was certainly a difficult challenge, but that was only the beginning. The next several weeks or months, he spent hiding in a deep valley alongside the Cherith wadi. He drank from the brook and received his daily food from the beaks or claws of ravens. Then the day came when the brook dried up and God told him to move to Zarephath beyond the northern border of Israel and to live with a poor widow. God challenged his faith, and the faith of the widow, as He provided their daily bread from the handful of meal and a little oil. Just how long he had been living in the loft (a roof-room, common in those days) above the widow’s house is unknown, but the opening words of our text today announce “and it came to pass after these things.” Perhaps about the time their faith in God was  ecoming steadfast, God allowed a trial to come that would again test their faith.

The Widow’s Son Died

The widow was the mistress or owner of the house in which they lived. Her son became sick. As this burdened mother cared for her weakening son, her emotions welled up within her. God does not tell us how rapidly the sickness overtook the lad, but eventually her motherly nursing failed and the boy died. Sometime before Elijah had arrived at her home, she had endured the grief of her husband’s death. It appears that she had no children other than this son. Now he was dead. She was left alone in this world. Why would God allow this? God’s ways do not always make sense from a human perspective (Isa 55:8-9). We must remember that with God there are no accidents. Nothing ever surprises God. God allows trials to come in our lives in order to perfect us.

Pastor Alan Carr points out that “the Bible teaches us a different truth. God isn’t correcting His prophet, He is perfecting Him. God is teaching Elijah lessons that can be learned in no other fashion than through trial and difficulty. You see, it is in the storms of life that we learn God can walk on the waves. It is in the valleys of life that we learn that He is the Lily of the Valleys. Sometimes we must go through the fires of life to find out that He will go with us every step of the way.”1

Phillips Brooks once said, “O, do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men! Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks.”2

Please see attached pdf for more notes