The Last Handful

"She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah."
1 Kings 17:15-16 (NIV)

You know that sinking feeling when you check your bank account mid-month? The bills are coming due, the balance is too low, and you honestly don't know how you're going to make it work. Ever had that moment?

In today’s verse, a widow gathers sticks in the small town called Zarephath. A stranger approaches, asking for water and bread. She senses something different about him and opens up honestly: "As surely as the LORD your God lives, I don't have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die." (1 Kings 17:12, NIV)

This is heartbreaking. She is fixing her last meal, facing certain death. And Elijah—knowing the drought is essentially his fault—outrageously asks her to make him bread first. 

But then comes God's promise. "Don’t be afriad…For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.’" (1 Kings 17:13a, 14, NIV)

Do you think this was easy for this woman to do? To take what little she had and give it first to a man she had never met? Who knew a God she didn't even know? If the widow had kept everything to herself, doing what most of us would have done, she and her son would have died. 

But she teaches us a great lesson. When you give God all that you have, you always wind up with more than you started with—because all you have left is Him, and He's more than enough.

Both Elijah and the widow had to believe God. What about you? Maybe financial pressure is mounting. Before you panic, take your checkbook to God in prayer. Write down one specific need, then give something—even $5—to someone else first. Trust God’s economics. He’ll provide what only He can provide.

Prayer: Father, thank You that Your provision never runs dry. When I'm down to my last handful, help me trust You enough to give first. I'm done making deals with You—I'm choosing to obey first and trust You to provide. Show me where to give this week, even when it doesn't make sense. In Jesus' Name, Amen.