What do you do when the difficult things of life threaten to take you down and possibly destroy you?
1 Kings 17:9 says the Lord had commanded the widow of Zerepheth to provide Elijah with food. However, when Elijah asked her for food, she told him she didn’t have enough to feed him, plus herself and her son — that after she made a cake for them, they would eat and then die. The widow was not speaking out of faith, but out of fear. Elijah sensed her fear and responded, “Don’t be afraid.”
In 2008 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Arriving home from the oncology appointment, I took time to pray while my husband contacted a few Christian friends and family members for prayer. As I sat before the Lord, I thought of several family members who had died from various cancers. Then I quieted my spirit and waited to hear from my Savior. He spoke five phrases to me: 1: “Don’t be afraid.” 2: “Trust me, I am with you.” 3: “This is not just for you, it’s also for others.” 4: “Wait on me.” And 5.:“Be still and know that I am God.”
I got through that cancer encounter with natural means, but it came back with a vengeance five years later. With chemo pills and low dose radiation that cancer also disappeared, only to reappear in late 2017 in the form of lung cancer. I have chosen through it all to trust God.
When the widow of Zerepheth chose to obey God’s command to serve Elijah, her flour and oil did not run out as she had anticipated. When her son later became ill and died, her faith was again challenged. But God restored the boy’s life through Elijah and the widow proclaimed, “Now I know you are a man of God and you speak the truth.”
How much would it take for you to choose faith over fear? Isn’t now a good time to start?
Marcy Alves, Concord, N.H.
Extended Scripture: 1 Kings 15–17
