Make and Multiply

What the widow cannot trust yet, Elijah can.

Can you blame her? There’s a famine and this stranger asks her to give up her final meal for him.

It’s so much easier to hold on to the little we have left (be that hope, time, energy, and so on) than risk losing it, especially by giving it over to God.

But Elijah meets her reasonable no with words full of faith.

Don’t be afraid; […]for this is what the LORD God of Israel says, ‘The flour jar will not become empty and the oil jug will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the surface of the land'

Elijah needs food as much as the widow does! Equally, having seen God’s provision before, Elijah faithfully obeys Him this time around too. Building trust in God means saying yes time and again so God can continue to show us He is the reliable God He claims to be.

Though hesitant, the widow agrees, and the results are miraculous.

Then the woman, Elijah, and her household ate for many days […] according to the word of the LORD

Without God, they barely had one meal. With God, there’s more every day.

We see this kind of multiplication time and again in the Bible: in the manna from heaven; jugs of water turned into wine that just keeps flowing; not to mention, loaves and fishes (twice).

Our God is the God of blessing and abundance. We need to be obedient to take the risk with the little we feel we have and let God do the multiplying.

What if, instead of safeguarding what we want to control, we choose to offer up even just our willingness to date and ask God to multiply it? I predict you’ll experience His "even more" as a result.

What are you holding onto tightly that God could transform?

Whether you see yourself as the widow needing to let go or as Elijah, willing to encourage others that God does provide, know that God wants to multiply the good in your life because He loves you. When we say yes, even if the choice seems risky, there’s no limit to what God can do.

Trust means being open-handed with what we have for God to use.

Choose to risk, so that He can bless you.