I have only…

I King’s 17:8-9Then the Lord said to him “go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon.  There is a window there who will feed you. I have given her my instructions.   I King’s 17:8-9

But she said,  “I swear by the Lord your God that I haven’t a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jar. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I must die of starvation.” I Kings 17:12

Listening to these scriptures, it caught my attention that the Lord said He had already given instructions to the woman who would feed Elijah.  Yet when Elijah made it to the woman, she says “I haven’t a single piece of bread.”

I started to wonder where the disconnect was.  Did Elijah pick the wrong widow woman?  God said He had given instructions, so surely the woman He told would have the food to feed the prophet with.

Did the widow woman not listen to God?  I mean if you knew one of God’s chosen people was coming to you for food, wouldn’t you go find some if you didn’t have it?

Yet here she is with only flour and oil in hand and a hungry prophet at her doorstep.  I thought about how many times in my own life that I have felt ill-prepared for the task at hand.  Yet, just as it was with the widow woman, so it is with us.  When God asks us to do something, He will equip us with what is needed to get the job done.  And usually when we are obedient, He will take what we have and bless it beyond what we can imagine.

What is in your hands that you are saying “I have only” that God is instructing you to give?