The miracle of the flour and the oil

Reflection based on 1 Kings 17:10-16

Meaning

God knows what our needs are even before we ask him to help us. The widow in the story was not aware that God already knew what herproblem was.

God comes to help us through different people. And so to the widow, he went through the prophet Elijah. We facethe danger of rejecting him and his salvation if we do not receive the ordinary peoplewho come to help us.

Message

Sometimes people come to us as if they are asking for our assistance yet they themselvesare coming to assist us. In the story it looks like Elijah’s visit was going to leave the widow and her son in abject poverty since the prophet insisted on the widow preparing the last of what she had for him. The widow was very faithful for she believed Elijah’s promise: “That jar of flour will never be empty and the jug will always have oil in it.”

She was also obedient for she did everything as instructed by a stranger. She was unselfish because she was prepared to give the last that she had to this stranger.

The important message here is that it is in giving that we multiply our chances to receive.

It is through serving other people that we serve God who finally abundantly rewards us.

How does this story relate to our own lives and communities?

In the story, the widow is the winner. Her victory came through sacrifice, obedience, selflessness and commitment. As humanitarian workers we have to sacrifice a lot in order to effectively serve those we should serve.

God comes to us in various forms including the communities we serve.We have to go out of our way and means in terms of both time and resources as the widow did.

We have to be obedient to our conscience, our sixth sense, which is God’s voice, in order to do his will. We have to be selfless with the resources at our disposal for the good of all and do everything with an option for the poor.And the communities we work with are also encouraged to be selfless and play their part by contributing as they can.

This reflection was written by Jephas Tichapondwa who is the WASH Field Officer for Caritas Gokwe, one of CAFOD’s partners in Zimbabwe.