FAITH AT WORK

So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah. I Kings 17:15-16

REFERENCE
I Kings 17:1-16

“She went away and did according to the word of Elijah…” In essence, she acted on the Word of God as revealed to her by Prophet Elijah. Giving Elijah this ‘precious’ meal in obedience to his words, is quite a remarkable feat for a widow who was gathering sticks for her oven-fire, to bake her last bread, in preparation for hers and her son’s death. By her action, she showed that she had faith in God’s Word to supply her needs all through the time of famine.

Like anyone of us, this widow may have struggled with thoughts like, ‘Are you sure this prophet is telling the truth?’ ‘Where will the supply come from when there is famine in the whole land?’ ‘What if it doesn’t work?’ Yet, she took the risk to act, and that is what ‘faith’ means – taking a risk to act based on God’s Word. It wasn’t a convenient thing for the widow to do but it was absolutely necessary for her sustenance. This goes to show that faith is not always convenient; it puts a demand on you, and it requires an action from you.

Faith is at work when you see people take risks in the face of contrary evidence, just because they have received a word from God. Someone, in spite of his/her personal needs, reaches out to meet the needs of God and those of others. Another, like Peter, forsakes a predictable and lucrative job, to pursue a calling in ministry or entrepreneurship. Another, standing on the Word, audaciously pursues a post graduate education, even when all the funds aren’t complete. Indeed, for faith to work, it must be worked. No wonder the Faith-Heroes of Hebrews 11 are forever celebrated – they put faith to work and did risky things…just because God said so.

God, knowing that we need faith to please Him and to live as believers, gave each of us a measure of faith to live victoriously (Romans 12:3). So, the question is not ‘Do you have faith?’ NO! The question is, ‘Will you put your faith to work based on the Word of God?’

Today, you may be in a tight place like the widow in this account was, but if you can trust and obey God, and take that ‘risky’ leap of faith based on His Word, you too will experience a change of story.

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