For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah. — 1 Kings 17:14-16
Over the past year, we seem to have become accustomed to empty shelves and difficulty finding items. We hear a lot about the supply chain crisis and difficulty producing items because of worker shortages. We heard a lot about shutdowns over the fears of coronavirus and how the actions of other countries limits our ability to get things here in America. Not to mention that many times these items are much more expensive than they have been in the past.
Here in 1 Kings 17, Elijah experienced a similar situation in the midst of a drought. The widow woman did not have much to share, but we find that Elijah encouraged her to trust God and have faith. Throughout the entire drought, the barrel of meal and the cruse of oil never ran out. God provided for His people!
What really strikes me in this story actually happens just before the verses mentioned above. In the verses before this, the widow woman explains to Elijah the limited supplies and that she was gathering sticks “that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” She was depressed, frustrated, and seemed like she had lost all hope.
When we face these challenging times in life, many times it has an effect on our spiritual lives as well. Just like we need a supply chain to bring items to our local store, we need a spiritual supply chain to feed our soul to keep our focus in the right place.
The supply chain at your local retail store might be struggling, but God’s supply chain has never run out. He has mercy, grace, forgiveness, strength, help, encouragement, and anything else that you may need in your life. You simply have to go to the spiritual supply chain through prayer and God’s word to find it! It is fully stocked and ready for you.