4 - First giving,
then receiving
God's Miraculous Provision

1 Kings 17:
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
9 "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink."
11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."
12 So she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."
13 And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.
14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.'"
15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah and she and he and her household ate for many days.
16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.
NKJV

This response from God, to the prayer of the starving widow is nothing short of miraculous! She never had more than she needed, yet nothing ever ran out.

Notice that God required that the widow give the food which was supposed to keep her alive, in order to receive this miraculous provision in return.

Notice also that in the initial conversation with Elijah, she talked about feeding herself and her son. Yet by the time of verse 15, she was feeding her household.

This means that others of her relatives noticed that she was thriving when everyone else was sinking and came to partake of the provision of God she was enjoying!
Each day she had the faith to feed the Prophet Elijah first, she had the food she needed for those in her household.

Whenever God puts it in our heart to give, and we take up the faith challenge and do so, two wonderful things happen:
   Not only is our own need met above and beyond what we expected, but also
   Those close to us are included in the blessings which God showers upon us in the difficult times.

Prayer:
Father, thank You for our daily bread, which You have provided on time and in generous quantity today.
If there is any giving that You require that I do today, please let me know what it is, and more than that, assure me that I am not imagining that You have asked this of me.
I refuse the voice of delusion, and open my life to the voice of my Shepherd only,
in the name of the Lord Jesus,
my Shepherd and King,
Amen.