The most unlikely people

¹⁰ So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. (I Kings 17:10, NKJV)

I have to be honest, if God had told me to go across the border to a city I’d never been before and find a widow who was going to provide me room and board, I’d look for a rich widow. 

I would check the obituaries for the last few years in that city to find the former richest married dead men that I could find and I’d start with their widows. 

What does Elijah do?  He takes the first widow he finds, a widow gathering sticks.  Really!? 

Couldn’t he (shouldn’t he) have been a little more discriminating?  There’s a lot of strange people out there.

What about at least getting a background check and asking for references.  Surely they had a Better Business Bureau where he could check out Bed & Breakfast establishments owned by widows.   Or at least do a google search on the lady and check her reviews on Trip Advisor.    

But here’s the deal, and this is where we miss it so often: Elijah wasn’t trusting the widow to provide the room and board, he was trusting God and when God is your source it doesn’t really matter what instruments He uses.

The ONE THING for today: Before you write people off, don’t forget that God has the habit of using the strangest and most unlikely people and events to perform his good purposes.  Don’t believe me?  Go look in the mirror!  

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash