Desperate Hope

We saw last time how the widow had hope beyond her circumstances. She was in a hopeless situation, from a human standpoint, but with God All things are possible!! She believed, she had hope, she was obedient, she kept the faith, and her and her son was saved.

So that brings us to today. There are moments in life when you might be tempted to think; "Everythings good ~~ I'm doing what God has asked of me ~~ I'm in the center of His will ~~ no bad only good can come from this." But as we will see in this passage today, that is not always the case, but we will be reminded again that God's ways are not ours.

Let's look at today's passage of scripture: I Kings 17:17-24. So in verse 17 the writer tells us right off that this is "some time later." Now what do we know about the time they were living in at that moment? We know a great miracle was still being performed every day in their midst. You see there was still no rain. But in the midst of this drought season, the widow, her son and Elijah were being taken care of; oil and flour every day in the jar when she went in to make a meal. Amazing!! God was working and moving; they saw it every day.

And then the unthinkable happens. Verse 17 tells us that the widow's son became ill to the point that he stopped breathing. Now right here I'd like to stop just a minute. Just become still for a moment, get all other thoughts out of your mind and put yourself in this little house. Picture the scene.

A little house but neatly kept, everything where it belongs, a small fire pit for cooking, a small wooden block to mix and knead her bread, sitting on the block the everyday miracle of oil and flour, and then go to the bedroom and lying on a simple bed is her son, sick, really sick and now he has stopped breathing.

Elijah must have been right there with her. Scripture doesn't tell us that she had to go get him. Now hear the desperation in the widow's voice in verse 18: "She said to Elijah, 'What do you have against me man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?'"

These are two very interesting questions that she asks Elijah. First she automatically thinks that this is some how her fault. Why would Elijah have anything against her? She was obedient, she did all that was asked of her, and they were living in the result of that by being able to eat every day. And yet she asks this question, does he have something against me? In times of desperation one of the first things that hit our minds is doubt. She calls him a "man of God" and yet she is thinking she must have done something wrong. Because she has seen what God does through him, and yet her son has just died.

Now look at the next question, "Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?" It always comes back to that in our flesh doesn't it? Sin. You can just hear desperation in her question; she is heartsick. This makes no sense. God is making no sense to her in this moment. Why provide for her son just to turn around and take him from her in the middle of the miracle? She thinks it must be her fault because of her sin.

Now let's look at Elijah's response. Verse 19: "'Give me your son,' Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed."
Notice that Elijah doesn't argue with the woman and tell her all these great theological truths, no he just simply tells her to give him her son, and again this faithful woman was obedient. You see, faith and obedience go hand in hand.

Elijah is carrying this boy to the upper room, his room. Notice he doesn't take him just anywhere, no he takes him to his room. The place where he talks to God, his place and lays the boy on his bed (vs 19). Again get into this scene: The boy has died, the mother is beside herself, and Elijah has the dead boy in his arms; Elijah could feel his lifeless body, this situation was dire. He lays him on his bed and cries out to God. He asks God why this has happened and then he stretches out on the boy three times and cries to God and pleads with Him to let the boy live.

So in verse 22: "The LORD heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him and he lived." WOW!! God is AWESOME!! This is the first recorded raised from death to life miracle that we see in the Bible. So think of this a moment, if this is the first time anyone in scripture is raised from the dead then Elijah would have had no past experiences to draw from. But what he had was faith!! A living, breathing, all-encompassing faith in God to do the undoable. And God sees the heart, He knew Elijah believed this way. There is no getting past God. If you struggle in this area of faith; Trust Him. Cry out to Him to increase your faith. He is God ~~ He is altogether good and He will do it!!

Now I do love a happy ending :) Vs 23 "Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, 'Look, your son is alive!'" Can you imagine the look on the widow's face. She must have been beside herself. I would've been. I do believe that this lady had GREAT faith. I think that while Elijah was praying in the upper room she was praying in the lower. I don't think that for a moment she had started planning the funeral. No I believe she was at least doing her best to believe in the midst of a seemingly impossible situation.

Vs 24 (I love this!!) "Then the woman said to Elijah, 'Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.'" All doubt is gone!! Don't you just love that. God sees us right where we're at. He knows that we are human and that we have doubts especially in dire situations. He sees that but He knows us and He knows our heart, and He loves us even in our moments of doubt and confusion.

Let me ask you a question. When faced with an impossible situation, one so far out of your control it's ridiculous, what do you do? I've been faced with a hard situation lately, not impossible but difficult. I've done all that has been asked of me and still the answer has not come. I've been told now that for this area all has been done. So what do I do? Crumble (uhh I've wanted to at times), give up (no way, God is God), Believe (Bingo!!) Believe!! I love God He is altogether good and He is always God. I know this full well and I'm believing!! So let me encourage you today: Believe God!! Believe him for that situation in your life that you cannot fix. You've done all you can do, but it isn't working: Believe Him!! And then listen for His voice and be obedient!!

Have a GREAT weekend.
Much love to each of you,
Dawn