²⁹ In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. ³⁰ Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. ³¹ He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. ³² He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. ³³ Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.

¹ Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”² Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: ³ “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. ⁴ You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” ⁵ So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there.⁶ The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. ⁷ Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. ⁸ Then the word of the LORD came to him: ⁹ “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” ¹⁰ So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” ¹² “As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” ¹³ Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.’” ¹⁵ She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. ¹⁶ For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah. ¹⁷ Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 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?” 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. ²⁰ Then he cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” ²² The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 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!” ²⁴ 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.”

–1 Kings 16.29-33, 17.1-24 (NIV)

[Paul wrote] Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, ¹⁹ for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. ²⁰ I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹ For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²² If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! ²³ I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.

–Philippians 1.18b-23 (NIV)

I have several friends and acquaintances who are carrying heavy burdens of all kinds. This reflection is written with you in mind. Take the time to read the entire passages above. There is a lot of reading but they tell a story and if you are to understand the message in the story you first have to understand the dynamics of the story.

1 Kings is an account of God’s interactions with his people Israel. It is brutally frank in its description both of God’s faithfulness toward his called-out people and their unfaithfulness to him. One cannot care about people and not be heartbroken over Israel’s continued rebellion against God. Today’s story is one such example.

Ahab has just become king of the northern kingdom of Israel (called Samaria here) and has done evil in God’s eyes by his idolatrous  worship of pagan gods. This results in the covenant curses being invoked against him, in this case in the form of drought and famine. Simply put, when Ahab chose to enter into a foreign alliance with the king of Sidon and worse yet appropriate the Sidonian worship of Baal, he essentially thumbed his nose at God and told God that he did not really  believe in God or trust God to watch over and protect him or his people. Don’t let the historical context of this story lull you into self-complacency. We still do the same thing to God today by the things we choose to do or not do. How many of us put our faith in money, power, or sex (to name just a few) and thus thumb our nose at God?

And it is here that the story gets really interesting because the author paints for us three vignettes that poignantly remind us of God’s ability to deliver and protect us. In contrast to the general famine and deprivation of God’s people Israel, God uses ravens to miraculously sustain his prophet Elijah. Regular consumption of meat by ordinary people in that day was quite unusual and so the author seems to be telling us that God’s prophet was feasting at the very banquet table of God himself! Moreover, the author seems to be telling us that even in the midst of great despair and deprivation God can and does sustain those who put their hope and trust in him.

Likewise with the story of the widow of Zarephath. This story is even more remarkable in that the widow is a Gentile and not one of God’s chosen people. But we see in God’s providing for Elijah and this widow and her family a preview of coming attractions. We get a glimpse of God’s promise to offer healing and redemption to all people, even when things look ostensibly hopeless. We see this powerfully illustrated in the widow’s desperate comment to Elijah about gathering what little food and water is left so that she and her son might eat what’s left before they go home and die. But notice Elijah’s response. Don’t be afraid! God is with you and you will see it for yourself when your meager provisions do not run out! Talk about requiring a leap of faith on the widow’s part! Talk about God’s willingness to show the widow that her faith was not misplaced! And as we reflect on this, we empathize instinctively with this widow because we too know what it is like to be in despair and lose sight of any hope in our lives. It is precisely then that we need to hear God’s word to us: Don’t be afraid! I’ve demonstrated my ability to deliver to you in multiple ways so that you can have some real substance to believe my promises!

But perhaps the most powerful and poignant part of this story is when Elijah raised the widow’s son from the dead. Like each of us, Elijah and the widow are confronted with the awful reality of death and wonder how they can reconcile this reality with God’s promise to us to give us life. But unlike this story, we are not used to having a prophet come and resuscitate someone from the dead (I’m not thinking here of the many medical miracles that come to mind). How often have you prayed to God to heal someone, only to have your prayers apparently go unanswered? What are we to make of this? Why should we not lose hope and faith?

First, from the context of the story, it is clear that God used Elijah to provide another and even more powerful example to a faithful Gentile what God can actually do in the lives of his people. In God there is life and not even our mortal death can separate us from those of us who are in Christ.

Second, we must remember that God’s promises to us in Christ are far better than anything Elijah did for the widow’s son. Yes, Elijah resuscitated the boy but he would eventually die again, this time for good. Physical death is a sad fact of life and was brought about by human sin–Adam’s sin. But God has overcome the curse of sin and the death it brings by bearing the curse himself when he became human and suffered and died for us. And this is where Paul comes into the picture because in today’s passage he gives us a glimpse of the hope Christians have.

Our mortal death will not be the end of things. Rather, it signals a new beginning. We will go and be with Christ until God brings about his promised New Creation. From what Paul tells us, we who are in Christ will not be unconscious when we die. Otherwise, how would we know it is far better to go and be with Christ? No, whatever it looks like from the time we die until the day of New Creation, we will be with Christ who is life. That’s the Christian hope and promise. But it is a hope and promise that requires faith, not a blind faith but a faith that is formed based on the historical evidence of the biblical witness.

Sadly, however, there are forces who want to rob us of our hope that is in Christ and that is why it is critical for those who call themselves Christians to keep their nose to the book and in close relationship with other believers so that the Spirit can use our work to strengthen and sustain us by reminding us of our hope that is in Christ.

None of this, of course, will lessen the pain we feel when we see our loved ones suffer and die. To pretend otherwise is an affront to all that is true and good about love and wholesome relationships. What our faith will do for us is to give us real hope by reminding us that our mortal existence is not the end game and that God is big enough to deliver on his promises. He has done so in the past, most notably in Christ’s resurrection, and this track record will help us remember that God’s promises are worth our best hope and efforts.

This is the antidote to despair and it is the only real antidote. You can muck around and try to find other, lesser substitutes but they will inevitably fail you because they are not from God. Only God can save you from sin and death because only God is the Source and Author of all life. You will not be asked to blindly accept this. Instead, God invites each of us to examine the record carefully and to join with other people so that through his Spirit he can sustain us and give us real hope.

If you are dealing with some crushing burdens in your life, read and reflect carefully on today’s story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath. When you do you will be reminded that God is a God of history who acts in and through his faithful people to deliver them from despair, hopelessness, and ultimately death. If you are grieving over the loss of a loved one who has died in the Lord, remember that he/she is in the Lord’s presence right now, enjoying the mind-blowing love of God in his direct presence while awaiting his/her new resurrection body and an eternal future in God’s New Creation. Sure, you will miss your loved one but how can you not be happy for him or her?

Or if your loved one is not dying but is currently suffering mightily, remember that even now he or she is in Christ’s presence and that nothing in all creation can ever separate your loved one from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (cf. Romans 8. 36ff). But you are going to have to make the effort to consciously remind yourself of this and you will need the help of good friends to do likewise for you, with the Spirit’s help.

Your pain and grief will not be magically ended but you will find power to help and sustain you by reminding you of the hope and destiny that is your beloved’s and your own. Like Elijah, like the widow in today’s story, like Paul, and like countless other Christians, you will find reason to hope and rejoice in the Lord, even in the midst of your trials and tribulations.