J. Albrecht…Trinity 15…September 28^th, 2025…1 Kings 17:8-16…See How God Tests Our Faith

⁸ Then the word of the LORD came to him, ⁹ “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” ¹⁰ So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” ¹¹ And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” ¹² And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'” ¹⁵ And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶ The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Amen.

INJ Whose grace gives us a certain hope to walk by faith and not by sight DFR:

When journalist Eric Severeid was 17, he and his friend set out to canoe from Minneapolis, MN to the historic trading post of York Factory on Hudson Bay. The total trip came out to be 2,250 miles.

The final leg of their expedition was the most daunting—450 miles of rugged wilderness with only a single permanent settlement along the way. The sheer scale of the challenge left the two young men feeling overwhelmed. But just before they embarked, an old fur trader offered them a piece of wisdom:

“Just think about the next mile you have to go, not about the ones after that—never about all 450.”

Point is a pretty clear and important one. We tend to get overwhelmed and overstimulated when we are bombarded with many things all at one time. If our brain doesn’t focus on one thing, that which is right in front of us, it can turn a very simple problem into a near impossible situation. Even then, if we feel something is outside of our ability to handle, it can cause fear and anxiety.

When we look at the life of Elijah, we see the same tendency in the problems he faces. He lived during a period where the battle between God and Satan was out in the open, meaning evil did not hide its face, and many impressive miracles were done for everyone to see.

Yet, despite the numerous displays of God’s awe-some power, we see Elijah struggle. He faces uncertainty and anxiety, depression and fear. The reason is simple, Elijah is human and his sinful nature would pull his attention away from the LORD, his source of comfort and peace, and fully into the depths of whatever trial he faces.

It is those scenarios that God uses to really draw us closer to Him, to lean on His Word and not our own understanding. It was the lesson He taught the widow and Elijah and a lesson we learn day after day in our own lives. Today we See How the Lord Tests Our Faith. 1. A Prophet is Tested 2. A Widow is Tested 3. Both are Comforted.

Let us pray: Lord, Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen.

Elijah was active during the reign of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel in Israel. The Bible tells us that Ahab did more wickedness in the sight of the LORD than any other king before him. More than Jeroboam who blended the worship of Jehovah with the worship of a golden calf. Ahab and Jezebel thrusted the nation into outright idolatry. This nation no longer served the true God, only Baal.

You can see how Elijah’s test began as soon as he begun his ministry as prophet. He was facing a great boldness from the forces of Satan, spitting in the face of the true God and Elijah as His representative.

As an act of judgment on the nation, God declared a drought would fall on the land for an indefinite period of time. This resulted in a severe famine that spread throughout Israel and even into the region to the north.

As if Ahab and Jezebel wanting his head on a spike wasn’t enough, and as if suffering through a drought and famine wasn’t enough; now the LORD’s test involves going into the heart of the beast. See, Zarephath was the same region where Queen Jezebel was from. It was the epicenter of Baal worship, a place extremely hostile to someone like Elijah. The one who was going to provide for Elijah? A poor widow.

Put yourself in Elijah’s shoes. You might think, “Okay LORD, I understand the drought was Your judgment, and I understand I’ll face persecution because I am faithful to You, but how in the world is a widow supposed to feed me? She can’t work, has no income, and the famine is just as severe there as it is here?”

Overwhelmed by the sheer impossibility of his situation, Elijah’s faith is put to an extreme test. The evidence is saying it’s impossible, but God says go.

¹⁰ So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” ¹¹ And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” ¹² And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”

As Elijah enters Zarephath, he sees a woman picking up sticks. Assuming this is the woman he is looking for, he faces a test. Will she do what the LORD promised she would do?

This widow is a bit of an anomaly. She was in the heartland of Baal worship, and yet she had come to know the true God, Jehovah, as her Savior. But that didn’t excuse her from trials. Her husband died, leaving her to feed her son by herself. This situation is made worse by the drought and famine, and now she is gathering the items she needs for her final meal. But things were about to get even more dire.

¹³ 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. ¹⁴ For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'”

The widow’s situation is beginning to look a lot more like that 450 mile leg of Eric Severeid’s journey. One trial after another after another. She was supposed to take the very last that she had and instead of feeding her son first, feed the prophet of the God she worshiped and by doing that, the LORD would preserve her flour and oil for days on end. When is the last time you have seen your jar of flour not run out when you use it? Never. It doesn’t work that way. This widow would have to ignore what she could see – the evidence before her, and trust in what she could not see – God’s promise of preservation.

This widow and Elijah were not so different from each other. They both felt alone and were in desperate situations. To make matters seem worse, they were both called to forfeit what they could see and walk by what they could not see. For Elijah, the unlikely scenario that there was anyone godly in Zarephath when there already seemed to be none in Israel and that a widow of all people would be able to feed him. For the widow, it was that the LORD had not forgotten her, and despite how things have worked in her entire life, by the promise of this prophet, her final meal would be stretched into daily meals until the end of the famine.

Elijah and the widow both received a command from God. But with each command also came a promise. It was that promise that allowed them to act on faith and to walk, not blindly, but confidently through their trial with God leading the way. It was the promise of God that brought them comfort and gave them the strength to do the impossible. Paul tells us this is how faith operates when he writes to the Corinthian church, We walk by faith and not by sight.

This wouldn’t be the last time Elijah would have to walk by faith. In the next chapter, he will have a head-to-head battle with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel where he will have to trust in God’s power and protection. But by the LORD bringing him safely through this trial, Elijah could know that God keeps His promises and will keep him even in a situation like that.

As for this widow, well the LORD wanted to strengthen her faith too. He showed her that she was not forgotten, but God continues to keep every precious lamb in His fold. No one falls out of sight of His care. In the trials she faces ahead, she can walk by faith that holds onto God’s promises fulfilled.

Are there monumental obstacles standing in your way this morning? Has your mind wandered to the laundry list of items you have to do this week? Maybe your life doesn’t seem as desperate as Elijah or the widow, but what are the trials that put your faith to an extreme test? Whether it is major events you have gone through in the past – loss of a loved one, a sickness that came out of leftfield and has drastically changed your life, pressure put on your faith by those around you at work or at school; or it is a mountain looming in your near future.

If you don’t have any trials you are facing right now, don’t worry, they’ll come. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 16, Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” We can expect trials to come because of our faith and our walk with God.

The Bible is filled with commands from God on how to avoid succumbing to temptation. Like Proverbs 3:5, Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. Or from our Epistle Lesson Galatians 6:2. ² Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. God has always lays out the path for us to deal with our trials, temptations, and difficulties in life. But God doesn’t just leave us with commands, He ties them intimately with His promises. And one promise in particular.

The death and resurrection of your Savior Jesus. You are far more blessed than Elijah, the widow, or even Jesus’ disciples. Yes, they saw wonderful miracles, and the disciples got to see and hear Jesus in person. But you are more blessed. Why? Because you can look across all the Scriptures – from the days of Adam and Eve, to the beginnings of the New Testament Church, and you can see how God shaped history for one singular purpose:  But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (Gal. 4:4 ESV) God moved history in order to fulfill His promise to send a Savior, of which you are a benefactor.

Jesus’ perfect life is credited to you. His death on the cross paid for every single sin – every moment of doubt or despair. His resurrection from the dead is God’s promise to you that you will not face eternal death. Yes, trials and temptations will come into your life, but they do not have the final victory. You do. God fulfilled His greatest, and most important promise through Jesus for you. And every other promise, to never leave you or forsake you, to be with you in times of trouble, to bring comfort and peace when there is none to be found, these promises and all others found in the pages of Scripture are promises you can hang your life on.

Lord willing, you will not face such extreme tests as Elijah and the widow from Zarephath faced. But rest assured, you will receive the same comfort as they in whatever trials you face. Amen.