The Day After (When the Oil Runs Out)

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.’                  1 Kings‬ ‭17‬:‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Today’s reading brought me to some of my very favorite stories in Scripture.  I’m in the book of Kings and found myself in the Elijah stories this morning.

Elijah is one of those characters that I find very relatable.  

Elijah loves the Lord.  He is actively serving the Lord, and Elijah has a very special relationship with the God of the universe!  God speaks to Elijah regularly.

And yet, in spite of the closeness Elijah has with God, he seems to grow discouraged easily and often.  It seems that in spite of all the miracles he has witnessed and been a part of, Elijah sometimes struggles with doubt.

But that’s not the part of the story that’s got me thinking today.

Today I’m thinking about the widow at Zarephath.  I’m not thinking so much about how hard it must have been for her to serve Elijah the bread she made with what she believed to be her last bit of oil and flour.  And it’s not that time when her son died and Elijah had to ask the Lord to heal the boy.  

All of these incidents are amazing and have important lessons for us, certainly.

But today I’m thinking about “the day after.” 

The next day.  The day the rain came and the drought was over.

How did that work?

For the better part of three years, the Lord had been miraculously multiplying the widow’s oil and flour so that she, and her son, and Elijah, and apparently some other folks who were staying with her, all were able to eat in spite of drought and famine.  Then one day God tells Elijah that it’s time to go back, and he leaves Zarephath.  The famine is not quite over yet, though it will be soon.  The widow and her son still need to survive.

I can imagine that this lady must have had a little anxiety about Elijah’s leaving.  His presence served as a visual reminder of God’s provision for her in her time of need.   I don’t know if she had any understanding of the omnipresent nature of God.  She may have feared that the Lord would leave with Elijah. 

But God didn’t leave her.

The Bible doesn’t tell us anything more about this lady after Elijah’s departure.  But what Elijah told the widow when he met her tells us what we need to know - her supplies would not run out until God sent the rain.

So what I’m wondering about today is that next day - the day after the rain.  For the past few years, all this lady had to do was go to her kitchen and find exactly what she needed for the day.  It was her family’s “manna.”  But now the drought is over, the rains have come, and we can ascertain that this is when her supplies must have finally run dry.

Maybe this was a scary day for her.  There’s comfort in the familiar.  For hundreds of days now, she’s had a routine.  She’s developed habits, and those habits have been working.  She and her household have survived many days during which, we can speculate, not everyone had it so well.  But there had been a certainty and a sense of safety for this widow though.  And now that was changing.

Maybe it was an exciting day for her son.  For the past three years his mom had fixed the exact same thing every day.  He probably had grown tired of the same-old-same-old long ago.  Now that the oil and flour were used up, it was time for something new.

Whatever the emotions, and probably they ran the gamut, change was coming.  

They had learned to trust in the provision.  Now it was time to trust in the Provider.

They had seen God through the eyes of Elijah.  He was their “visual aid,” a bodily-present representation of the Lord.  Now it was time to see God with their own eyes,

Charles Dickens might have said, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…”  Learning to trust God for yourself - growing your faith - it’s wonderful.  And it’s hard.  

As I was walking Bailey this morning, I was meditating on this story, wondering how I might bring this post to its conclusion and considering its application.  And I was trying to figure out why this aspect of the story matters so much to me today,  And then I realized…

This is a “Zarephath moment” for me.  I’m in a drought, in a manner of speaking.  It’s layoff season from my job.  We’re coming to the end of one month and the beginning of the next.  That’s when most of the bills come due.  And from where I stand, it looks like the oil and flour jars are just about empty.  For most of my life, this situation has brought me to deep anxiety and worry.  Oddly, today I’m feeling less worry and more anticipation.

Here’s what I know: if the oil’s running out, the drought must be coming to an end.  The end of the drought doesn’t mean that the Lord is going to stop providing.  He’s just setting the stage to provide differently.

And I am so curious as to what that is going to look like!

So that is my encouragement to you today - it’s time to get our focus off of the provision and onto the Provider.  

Maybe, like me, you seem to be left with a lot of month at the end of the money.  

Or maybe it’s a relational situation for you. Perhaps you’re feeling that you’ve tried everything you know to do to bring restoration to that relationship.  Now it’s time to trust God to do what you cannot do on your own.

Zarephath is a faith walk.  It’s seasons of learning to trust what you know more than what you see - that the nearly empty jars are going to be enough because God is keeping them from running dry.  And then Zarepheth is the next season of learning to trust that God still provides, even after the jars run dry. He just may do it differently today than He did yesterday.

If the oil is running out, the drought must be coming to an end.

This is cause for excitement!

Celebrate!

And keep watch for something exciting in the coming new season!

Trust the Provider one more time.

…Just a thought…

Rainbows and Promises

Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. 1 Kings 8:56 ESV

The Temple had been completed.  The Ark of the Covenant had been placed in the Holy of Holies, and Solomon’s generation had just witnessed the visible manifestation of the presence of the Lord as Scripture records that “the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD” (1 Kings 8:11).

This might well be considered the most blessed generation to this point in history.  The Children of Israel were living in the Promised Land.  It was theirs!  They were quite a few generations removed from the days of slavery in Egypt.  These folks had not wandered in the wilderness.  There may have been a few of the elderly remaining who had seen giants during the days of Saul and David, but by and large, these were people who were experiencing days of peace and abundance.

All that these men, women, and children knew of God was what they had been told.  They had not followed pillars of fire and cloud.  They had not gone to battle to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan to claim their inheritance.  It had been passed down to them through their fathers.

While they may not have been the generation that had done the hard work, they were the ones enjoying the benefits.  God had given them rest!

And on this day, at the dedication of the Temple, they saw the Lord.

As we continue to read through Kings and Chronicles, it will quickly become clear that these people did not understand or appreciate the opportunity that had been afforded them.  The people will reject God.  The leaders will reject God.  Ultimately, this beautiful temple will be torn down, and the people will be taken captive again.

Still, 1 Kings 8:56 gives us a beautiful snapshot of the ways of the Lord.  

• God speaks through His servants down through history.  Solomon never met Moses or heard him speak.  But Solomon had been told what God had said through Moses, and Solomon believed.
• God does not want His people to always have to strive and labor and fight.  He desires to give them rest and peace.
• God keeps His promises.  

This third point has been on my mind in particular these past few weeks.  

While the world around us has gone stark-raving-mad in celebrating particular sins, the culture’s choice of symbol is entirely different from what they would claim.

Initially, as I walked around places of business and scrolled the internet, I allowed myself to be annoyed and disgusted at the rainbows that seemed to be everywhere.  But the Lord spoke a simple reminder to my heart - the rainbow is His.  He created it.  He did it so that whenever we see it, we would remember His promise.  

God keeps His promises.

In a world where so much is changing and unstable, that is a sure thing.  He is unwavering and totally reliable.

And so, as we continue through this month that has been geared toward celebrating sin, let each rainbow point you back to the promises of God.  

God keeps His promises!  That’s something that really is worth celebrating, not just this month, but always.

…Just a thought…

Unattainable, Insurmountable… Possibilities

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.     Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I woke up this morning with God-sized things on my mind.  My thoughts are filled with dreams that seem unattainable, challenges that seem insurmountable.  Historically, it’s a thought pattern that has led me down the paths of anxiety and faithlessness.  For the moment, though, I’m simply wondering.

I’m wondering how God might come through this time.

I’m wondering what I should do next - today, tomorrow, next week, next month, a minute from now.

I’m wondering if my dreams are realistic or simply pie-in-the-sky.

I’m wondering if my actions are selfish and irresponsible.

I struggle to balance faith and work.  

My heart knows the God who provides - Jehovah Jireh.  He has provided so many times - miraculously, abundantly.  But He has also brought the manna - just enough for the day.  

Even the manna had to be gathered and cooked.  And when the children of Israel eventually arrived in the Promised Land, there was milk and honey, but there was also work to be done.

I’m in layoff season with my job right now.  I love the freedom of the season, and I find myself trying to figure out how I can have this kind of schedule flexibility all the time.  I’ve been able to spend precious time with family and friends, helping, serving, and simply enjoying the company.  I want to do more of that.  But the problem with the flexibility of layoff season is that it doesn’t have paydays, and on planet earth 2024, particularly in these fun days of shrink-flation, the paydays are kind of important.

I find myself pondering situations that could look pretty bleak if God doesn’t come through.  But really, isn’t that the case with everything?  Without the Lord, all of life is pretty bleak!  So why would I expect my circumstances to look any different?

And so for the areas of concern, I’m trusting God with them.  He does come through.  He always has.  It’s not generally in the time and way that I think things ought to happen, but I pray that I’m getting better at dealing with that.

But beyond the concerns, there are the dreams - big dreams.  I want to be like the lady who I just read is on her way to see my loved ones in Brazil.  She’s going for the tenth straight year.  I haven’t been since 2019.  And so I’m praying that the Lord would show me how to build a life that affords both the freedom and the funding to go visit and serve.

And so I opened my morning reading to a verse I had previously highlighted - Proverbs 16:3 - and I was reminded again of the faithfulness of my good God.

I am committing again my energies to Him.  I am asking Him to show me details of the work He wants me to do and the methods for doing the work effectively.  And I’m choosing to look with anticipation to see how He establishes those plans.  

I’m setting today as an “Ebeneezer” moment (see 1 Samuel 7:12).  The Lord has brought me this far.  I may not know exactly how things are going to come together, but am confident that He will not cease to be faithful.

I’ll keep you posted right here.  That’s really the heart of this blog anyway, to chronicle the wonderful ways the Lord works and speaks, and to prayerfully encourage someone else along the way.

I’m praying that whatever you set your heart to do today, God would bless you in it.  Commit your work to the Lord, and together let’s watch Him come through!

…Just a thought…

Reflecting on 15

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.     Psalm‬ ‭77‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

My Timehop yesterday pointed out to me that I have been writing this blog for 15 years now.  (Upon doing a little research, it actually hit the 15-year mark about a week ago, but close enough!)

15 years!

That seems like an eternity ago.  And like it was just yesterday.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the passage of time…. And trying to redirect those thoughts because they can quickly take me down undesirable rabbit holes…

Fifteen years ago, my life looked VERY different!  My children were 15 and almost 12 years old.  My house had wheels under it.  I was dreaming about a day like today when I would find myself living in a home on a permanent foundation, waking up every morning in the same city, doing a bit of laundry without having to drag it to a laundromat, and preparing meals in a real kitchen with a full-size refrigerator and a freezer that could actually keep ice cream frozen.  Of course, in that dream, the kids were still at home, we were homeschooling the right way in a dedicated schoolroom, there was a yard and a fence… and butterflies and unicorns frolicked out my window, lol!

So much has changed.

The earliest Invisible Woman posts were all composed in different locations across the country as we traveled in itinerant ministry.  Then there were posts from Ellenwood, Georgia where we found ourselves trying to help our church through a transitional period while basically living in the church fellowship hall.  From there we moved on to the Clearwater/Tampa area where we discovered that re-entry after the road years was not going to be as easy as we’d thought, and so there were a few posts reflecting that season. 

Then Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina…

Kenduskeag/Bangor, Maine…

Columbus, Georgia…

Tallahassee, Florida…

Pensacola/Cantonment, Florida…

Brandon, Dunnellon, Ruskin, Ocala…

Lubbock/Shallowater, Texas…

And now Wellington/West Palm Beach, Florida…

Since leaving full-time itinerant ministry, I’ve worked as a daycare assistant (because I wasn’t qualified to work as a teacher anymore 🙄), nanny, burger shop worker, call center customer service representative, behavioral health professional, inventory worker, preschool photographer (two separate occasions/locations), craft store stocker and cashier (also two separate occasions/locations), church directory photographer, children’s home houseparent (three agencies, four locations), fast food worker, photographer’s assistant, school photographer, transcript editor….   (And then there were the hundreds of other jobs I was turned down for along the way!) I joke that I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up!

It’s been an action-packed fifteen years, for sure!

I’d really like to thank the handful of people who have stuck with me on this journey.  I’ve yet to write anything so interesting or profound as to go “viral” or even be widely shared.  But through all of the moves and jobs, this little blog has been one small constant through a whole lot of change.

If the next fifteen years are anything like the past fifteen, it’ll be quite a ride!  I’ll keep checking in here from time to time.  Though my life has involved a lot of change, my God has not changed.  My life is a lot less public than it used to be, but my heart’s desire is still that my life would reflect Him to others.

Blessings!