A few years ago I felt like Sandra Bullock in Gravity – untethered, and floating in space.
We had just returned from a five month sabbatical and I was clueless about how the next season of my life would look. What was my “place”? Who was my “tribe”? Was there anywhere God could use me to add value?
The answers seemed to be “nowhere”, “no-one”, and “nowhere” (again).
Maybe your circumstances are different, but you can relate. You’re “in transition” (that horrible euphemism for “in a place that feels scary and directionless”). Or maybe you’re just feeling unsettled and under-utilized.
So I prayed. And I prayed. And I prayed. And by that I mean I yelled at God a lot.
And once in awhile between my rants I tried to listen for His whispers.
And when I did, here’s what God said. “Use the flour and oil I’ve already given you.”
Ok, it went a little different than that, but that was the bottom line.
And actually, God didn’t whisper, it was more like He shouted with clarity through the account of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath.
You remember that story in 1 Kings 17 when God sends Elijah to the widow telling him she’ll supply him with food, but when he arrives and asks for a meal she tells him all she has is a handful of flour and a little oil that she was going to use to make one last meal for her and her son before they die.
Elijah says, no problem, just start baking “from what you have” and God will make it enough. And yep, “there was food for every day.” “The jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry.”
So here are two questions I’ve been trying to answer each day: Continue reading
