Elijah and the widow - Part II

Good Morning!!! It promises to be a day full of sunshine!!! I hope we can all get outdoors and enjoy God's glory!!! Our pool opened yesterday!!! I am going to try to take the boys today so I can watch them shiver and swear the water isn't cold!!! I always get a kick out of their determination to swim in water I wouldn't put my big toe in!!! Not until their lips are blue will they come to me for a towel and a warm embrace!!!! Oh, well...I take those embraces every chance I can get them.
So, we left off yesterday as Elijah met with the widow lady God had promised to Elijah for provision!!! God proved faithful, once again, against what seemed to be an impossible situation!!! Well, you ain't seen nothing yet! Talk about impossible....
After some time, the widow's son became sick. Scriptures says that the sickness was so severe that the breath left the little boy. The widow cried out to Elijah in her pain. She accused him of being the reason for her son's death. Elijah didn't lash back at the widow. He simply asked for the child. He then proceeded to take the child to his room where he stretched himself over the child in prayer and asked God to give the child's life back to him. The Lord heard Elijah and the child was revived. Elijah carried the boy down to his mother and simply said, "See, your son is alive."
The woman responded to Elijah with these words, "Now I know you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth."
All of these events that we have talked about so far take place in the same chapter (1 Kings 17). Please take note that Elijah enters into this chapter being introduced as Elijah, the Tishbite. Once this chapter ends, he is recognized as a man of God. He has been through test after test and proven himself each time. God used each test to make him more than he was in the beginning...he used them to make him a man of God. It would take a man of God to endure the tests to come.
In the beginning chapters of Chuck Swindoll's book, Elijah was described to us as a rugged, bold, outspoken man who was willing to stand before the king and make him aware of a great tragedy. He had no problem expressing himself. Yet, we find a very different Elijah in today's scriptures. He is calm and gentle. He seems full of compassion for the widow. I mean, she lashes out at him and blames him for her son's death. Elijah knew he wasn't responsible for the child's death. He didn't say anything in response to her anger. He just wanted to take the child and sit at the feet of our Lord as he asked for the child's life.
How many of us respond to tragedy by lashing out at God or the people around us that care about us? Do we look for someone to blame instead of bowing to our knees to ask God for his guidance through the storm?
I remember the day I found out about my cancer...
I didn't know which way to turn! I remember jumping up out of my chair and just pacing around the room with absolutely nothing to say! I was shaking all over my body in fear. I asked, "Is it bad?" The doctor's response was, "yes". Brian was sitting by my side in shock, and I just wanted to run far away and pretend I wasn't hearing the words that kept blasting through my mind!!! Then I suddenly realized that my pacing was doing none of us any good. I sat down and just asked Brian and the doctor to pray with me. I sat there and prayed with more sincerity than I ever had. I just begged God to give me the strength to endure what was ahead. Later that night, about 30 of us met at Calvary Baptist Church and I experienced the most amazing prayer time of my life. Everyone that was there was in one accord with God that night. We praised Him for all He is capable of and for what He was going to do in my life. Each person was blessed that night for different reasons, but I am sure I was touched the most by all of the compassion I received in that sanctuary. I can assure you that night is the reason I have dealt with my cancer the way I have. Because of that night I have been able to feel secure in God's provision and faithfulness every single step of the way. I can't give you the reason that my response was immediately towards God. It isn't that I am any better of a person than this widow. If I were to lose a child, I could only pray to handle myself as well as she did. I will tell you, though, that it has made all of the difference in my journey!
God is going to heal me! I felt that when I fell to my knees that night in the sanctuary. I don't know how He is going to do it, but I will be healed one day!!! I just have to rest in His hands until that day comes!!!
Please find a way to rest in Him today! If I didn't have His hands to fall into, I would be a living basket case! I would love to know that others find the peace that I find in His arms!!!
In Him,
Tiffany Pate