Cursing God while we're being blessed
Hope everyone is doing well!
I wanted to share something that really hit me from my Bible reading this week.
Specifically, I’m referring to the events that transpire in 1 Kings, Chapter 17.
Let me set this up real quick.
This is in the Old Testament, and the people of Israel have been rescued from Egypt already by this point.
They are in their homeland and already rebelling against God. King David has died, as has his son, Solomon.
Even worse, the kingdom has been split into a northern and southern half. To the north is Israel. To the south is Judah.
In the chaos of this turmoil, God sends holy prophets to speak to the rulers and people. And one of these is Elijah.
He is arguably one of the greatest prophets that God sends and in Chapter 17, a curious thing occurs that I’d like to talk about a moment. But I have to set this up a bit more first.
The prophet Elijah has just told the ruler of Israel, King Ahab, that a severe drought will occur. No dew. No rain. Nothing. And this will happen for the next few years.
Drought is a serious thing to deal with even in modern society, with international trade and planes and ships and other countries that can help. Back then? It was catastrophic.
And so after telling the King this, God tells Elijah to flee east so that the King can’t kill him.
This King was “evil in the Lord’s sight, even more than any kings before him,” according to chapter 16, so killing a prophet was no biggie for him.
Most stunning of all, in fact, King Ahab had even turned to worshipping Baal, including building a temple and altar for him. (As a reminder, Baal was the false god worshipped by the arch-enemies of Israel, the Philistines.)
So, King Ahab had strayed, and strayed far.
Back to the story.
Elijah tells King Ahab he’s going to face years of drought because of his sins and God tells Elijah to flee east. God even tells Elijah what stream to stay at (Kerith Brook) and even provides ravens to bring Elijah food. (That’s what I call God taking care of you in the most desperate of times!)
After a while, however, the brook dries up. (Because there’s a massive freaking drought. If you missed the drought part above, just go get on TikTok or something.)
So, God tells Elijah to go the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. You’ll have to read the next part.
As you can read, the woman is beyond impoverished. She’s on the verge of starvation and death. She’s done. No one to borrow from. No one to seek shelter with. I’m presuming she’s exhausted all means, as any Mom would do. (Moms are AMAZING, in case you didn’t know. Also, if you didn’t know this, you’re definitely spending too much time on TikTok.)
Elijah tells her to not be afraid. To make a little bread for him first, and then use what’s left to prepare a meal for herself and her son.
He even adds this:
I mean, that would be a miracle, right?
And that’s exactly what happens. For many days, there’s enough food for all three.
We have LITERALLY a miracle happening during a time of drought, famine, and starvation.
But eventually, the woman’s son grows sick, gets worse and worse, and he finally dies.
A tragedy, for sure.
But check out how she handles this…
I mean, I can’t say for sure, but I’m betting she’s screaming at Elijah and cursing him.
Because I presume she thought nothing bad would happen to her once she’s getting her daily miracle of unending food.
Don’t we all get hooked and addicted to “life on easy street?”
I mean, seriously, are we any different? We land the great job, the perfect spouse, the dream home, and it’s all gravy at first. But then the boss changes, the honeymoon ends, and the AC unit goes out on the house. And man, that yard is sooo big to mow and it’s sooo hot…
In the case of the widow, God miraculously steps in and brings the boy back to life.
And God may miraculously step in as a part of your life, as well. (Making a list of times God has done things for you.)
But he also might NOT.
And when he doesn’t, let’s not forget the bounty we received before we started cursing Him.
God is oh-so-good and merciful, and we get blessing after blessing and ignore nearly every one of them like a spoiled child.
The even better part of this story is later in 2nd Kings Chapter 8:1-6, Elisha warned the woman to flee Israel to avoid an on-coming, seven-year famine. So the lady moves to the land of Philistines, stays there for seven years, and when she returns to Israel, has miraculous timing and the King has heard of her raised son. The King asks her about the story that he’s just been told, and then directs his officials to restore everything that she has lost, including the value of all the crops that would have been harvested in her absence.
That was the kind of blessing that God saw for her, even when she was full of doubt and anger.
Let’s not be like her. Let’s do better and thank God for all that He’s doing. Don’t be like the widow in 1 Kings, Chapter 17.
I hope this helped you, and if it did, share it with someone who needs to read it.
To God be the glory,
Stan R. Mitchell
Don’t forget: You can comment anytime, and I’ll do my best to answer thoughtfully! You can also reach out privately at: authorstanrmitchell@yahoo.com. (You can say “hi,” tell me your story, or ask questions! I love all three of those things!)
