There is much happening here in this story of Elijah the prophet. For me, today, I was struck at the widows response to Elijah when her son becomes ill. Blame comes quickly, as she reacts from her very real panic. "What have you done to us, O prophet!?" Despite the miracle of endless flour and oil that she had received, as she had declared their sure death earlier in the text, evidencing Gods provision.
17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” 19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child's life come into him again.” 22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 24 And the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.
What are some of the ways that we today live in that place panic, worry, doubt or anxiety (add your own word here!)? Perhaps temporarily unable recall Gods care for us in the past, we panic (I call it "spinning out" for me) over health, bills, relationships, work and more.
What can the last segment of the text (vv. 17-24) reveal to us today in the midst of whatever storm is happening?
What might it mean to "know" that God is present in that storm? In what ways might you experience God's presence?
