Who Comes First?

by R. Darke, Victoria, B.C., Canada | Category: General | Oct 1987

A preacher, unable to attend a conference for ministry of the word, was asked to send a message. His telegram was comprised of one word: Others! This could have been a lesson, and it must have been a hard one, the widow of Zarephath learned the first day she met Elijah (1 Kings 17:10). She was bereft, having a handful of meal and a little oil in her home. After that, her resources had come to an end. Look at your hand and decide how much meal it might hold. Enough for what? The Hebrew kaph for handful, indicates the palm, the hollow of the hand, the curved part. Two hands can hold more than twice as much as one hand because the filling can extend to the fingers. This is hardly so with one hand. And as for a little oil, the Hebrew maw-at, suggests the smallest amount; "that which is pared off".

Elijah asked for two seemingly impossible things. A little water in a drought ridden area; a morsel of bread from the poverty stricken home of a hungry widow with a hungry son. Now the question facing the distraught woman, and you and me in like circumstances is: Who comes first? "Bring me ... first..." said the prophet. While her protest showed initial doubt and fear, her response was shaped by her knowledge of the living God. And her simple faith revealed itself to be in Elijah's promise that God had said the meal barrel would not become empty after she had taken her handful out; the oil in the cruse would not lessen in quantity after she had poured out a little from i~ The reassurance was: "make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it forth to me, and afterward make for thee and for thy son" (v.13). Afterward! That was the positive outcome to a sacrifice for the Lord and His servant, in putting another first. The woman did as she was told, and three people were fed, and survived a drought4arnine which lasted for three and a half years (Jas. 5:17).

Here were two lone servants with varying degrees of responsibility and from differing walks in life, learning in the school of God, the place of preparation for us all. Virtually, each of them has nothing, but they find themselves in the realm of a God who has everything, and who says "I can" and "I will". Minimal resources sometimes create anxieties and crises for Christians and their families. The sudden descent of job loss; financial responsibilities continue, and the barrel and cruse reach the crisis stage. Can God? Will God? As 'we wait for His provision, sometimes a needy person requests help from Our already depleted resources. What do we do? The challenge, the test. Can Paul help? He speaks of hunger, thirst, lack of clothing, as part of his trials; he commends Philippian Christians for remembering him in his need when others had forgotten (4:12-20). Perhaps the others were in dire straits at the time. Nevertheless, the provision by the Philippians, he says, was a sacrifice. "Others" seemed to be in their mind!

From a spiritual viewpoint, too, it is reassuring to know that when our "barrel" and "cruse" become depleted, the Lord may demand the little that is left to be available to others. There is such a great need today, and as we seek to meet it in faith there is the assurance that as we give of ourselves for others, He will always replace."... and afterwards make for thee and thy son. For thus saith the LORD... the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until ..." (1 Kin. 17:13,14). Afterwards! Until! Are these the reassurances for those who take second place? Are these not reminders of our dear Saviour who pleased not Himself, but practised "spend, and be spent".

He who provided the wine of joy when it was depleted at Cana; and who filled twelve empty baskets belonging to the disciples after the multitude was

fed; and who produced fish for the empty nets of the weary, night-toiling fishermen, remains unchanged in the 2Oth century. Whether we are scraping the bottom of the barrel, or shaking the last drops of oil from the cruse of

oil, or deploring empty nets or baskets, we must not forget that we have an unchanging Lord. He has the ability to refill! for others and for you! "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yea and for ever" (Heb. 13:8).

R. Darke, Victoria, B.C., Canada | Oct 1987
General