Called to Plant Seeds Moments with God, Vol. 129
Called to Plant Seeds1
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
1 Corinthians 3:6–7
Quietness filling the meeting room is suddenly broken by loud grumbling. In growing embarrassment, you realize your stomach has let everyone know lunchtime is near. Sometimes hunger causes lightheadedness or weakness, a feeling of being completely famished. We have all experienced these feelings but know that relief comes with a good meal. What if it were your last meal? Could relief come if no more food were available? What would it be like to know you were facing starvation? Most of us will never experience anything like that in our world with plenty or at least enough.
Even Elijah didn’t experience this fear. In 1 Kings 17, God sent him to boldly announce to King Ahab that He was sending a drought. The people of Israel had turned their hearts to idols rather than serving Him. They prayed to Baal, the god of fertility, to provide water needed for their crops rather than the God who is over all creation. Since Elijah was in danger because of the king’s reaction, God led him to a brook and commanded ravens to bring him food. Through the effects of the drought, the brook dried up. God sent Elijah to be aided by a widow in Zarephath, a city of Sidon, a Gentile territory outside Israel.
This widow knew the fear of starvation. The drought had affected the region in which she lived. Daily the widow watched her flour and oil. Frantically she stretched it, trying to make it last as long as possible not just for herself; no, she had a precious son to feed. Finally came the day when all that was left was enough for one last meal. Despair filled her heart as she gathered sticks to prepare this meal for herself and her son before starvation took hold.
But despair changed to surprise through a simple request. “And he (Elijah) called to her and said, ‘Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.’ And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, ‘Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand’” (1 Kings 17:10–11). Not only that, on hearing of her situation, Elijah responded in a way that stunned her. “And Elijah said to her, ‘Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son.’” (v. 13).
Had she heard him right? Elijah had asked her to take a step of faith and feed him first. What dread she had faced in previous days watching her flour and oil dwindle, yet she was asked to give all that she had. She was not even being asked to eat the last meal with Elijah and believe God would provide; Elijah asked her to take all she had to make his meal and then make a meal for herself and her son. Elijah promised if she trusted his God, He would supply, and she would have all she needed until the drought was over. Elijah in his call to trust was really asking her to trust in His God.
She must have sensed from the beginning that Elijah served the true living God. In her response to his request, she began “As the Lord your God lives” (v. 12). Something in Elijah caused her to trust. She didn’t hesitate. “And she went and did as Elijah said” (1 Kings 17:15). A seed of faith in God had sprouted.
From then on, going over to her flour barrel and oil jar every day, she had just enough bread to bake for one more day. The widow of Zarephath gave even when she had nothing left to give. Day after day she saw her needs met as God provided. Before, she had been preparing her final meal—then God. Her journey of faith sprouted when the aid given to Elijah actually became the aid she needed to see God. God can use one moment of trust to build and strengthen the foundation of trust for the next moment.
Faith is like that. Faith is a firm belief in the absence of proof. God often asks us to take these steps of faith because He knows what those steps will produce in those around us. The strength of our faith may cause people crossing our path to take a step leading to Him. Your involvement with people around you, even asking for their help, may be just the help they need to see God.
How is God calling you to step out in faith?
What are ways you can begin to interact with those around you to help their faith sprout?
Have you seen moments of trust in your life that have strengthened your foundation of trust in God?
A step of faith leads to a life of faithfulness.