Worry Not ; The Barrel Of Meal Shall Waste Not

Rev.Br. Ken Chighozie Alamezie, BSS

"The barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which He spake by Elijah."
1 Kings 17:16

The Zarephath widow was at the city gate gathering sticks with which to prepare her last meal. Her only son was hungry, or rather starving. The situation in the city wasn’t in her favour as there was hunger and starvation in the land. That means she couldn’t beg for alms from people even if she had wanted to, since every home was plagued by the famine. Poor widow! To get the real picture of the situation then, you need to imagine what the experience is like now for a poor widow in this Buhari-led government. But it’s far worse then. What hit the land at the time was a debacle. It’s as bad as that; though I wouldn’t tell if there were ,then, hardhearted political robbers, ruthless demoniacs, like the breed we have now in our government.
But God is always there for the poor. Scripture says he gives favours to those whom he loves; and he provides for them even while they are asleep. I sure love this; and you know what? I believe it means what it says it is—while still in bed he’d make my coffee ready. I don’t know of anybody who doesn’t like good things in his/her life, who doesn’t like a situation whereby you just wake in the morning only to see that things have worked out perfectly well. He sure loves the poor, no doubt; and this should be their consolation.
With his eyes penetrating everywhere in the earth, he gazed steadily with love on the poor widow and her hunger-stricken son; just as he does today. The same was the case with the embattled Hagar and her son Ishmael, when the latter was left for dead in the desert of Beersheba, due to thirst. God’s never late, you know. Ishmael was at the very point of death when He intervened and caused water to flow in the scorching desert. And you know, it didn’t matter to him that it was a desert and posed no hope of water, no matter how dirty. Even dryness obeys him! Ask those who have crossed the Sahara Desert, and they will tell you better. Some people have had to dry to death in desert.
In the Zarephath woman’s case, her son was also dying; at least the lad knew death was imminent as he could see the last handful of flour in the basin and knew there was no hope of getting another, even if it meant something similar to what was fed the prodigal son on a pig farm. Mama, on her own, wasn’t happy. She was going to, after baking the last cake, watch her only son starve to death; she would stare while the grim reaper rips his delicate stomach through. That was quite an experience, awful, you know. But Love was watching. There was this other lady from Naim, a widow too. She’d just lost an only son. A large crowd of townspeople followed her to the graveside, wailing as they went. From the human point of view it was obvious there was no hope. Yet his prying eyes, filled with compassion, were watching. Suddenly he made his way to them, came up and touched the Stretcher, and the men carrying the deceased stopped. Of course you know what followed.
Folks, the point we are trying to bring out here is simply this: See the faithfulness of Divine Love and quit stressing yourself up. Your worries cannot change a thing in your past, present, and future, so why worry. This is Good news, you know. I just wish you get it. He promises never to leave nor forsake us. He promises to carry our burdens, no matter how heavy and how many they are; that’s the job he does after all. He promises to care for us, no matter the circumstances we find ourselves into. He promises to protect us, provide for us, on a daily basis, our daily needs. Isn’t this beautiful! See how in the case of the Zarephath widow, he provided for her more than her needs,“ For the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord..." She had enough to feed herself, her child and the prophet, Papa Elias. Isn’t that awesome? I bet it is. He also cared for Hagar and her son when in a daring situation, providing a stream for them in a scorching desert. See also how he didn’t let the townspeople of Naim commit an only child of a widow to the grave. Oh, God is Love, really!
Maybe you are reading this piece now right from your own pit of lack, mourning, and hopelessness. Maybe you’re like the Tishbite, Papa Elias, whose supply of food was cut short, because he had to journey to Zarephath, where through him a widow and her son would be given life. It doesn’t matter where life has thrown you at the moment; it doesn’t matter, either, what it is throwing at you. It doesn’t matter how hopeless your situation is, or how much both folks and foes have told you, you’re not going to make it. What matters, though, is that Someone really cares and wants to lend you a helping hand. Simply acknowledge his power to save, which is mighty, and His love for you, which is eternal. This you do by simply casting your worries unto Him. Stop being a worrywart and start being a praise warrior. When you cease to worry, that’s Hakuna Matata, then he begins to worry your worries. And you know what...,When He worries your worries, you’ll definitely have no worries to worry. I pray that henceforth your barrel of meal, supply for your needs, shall waste not, and your cruse of oil, abundance of happiness, fail not; and that is whether or not the APC government wants it.