I'm very thankful that God chooses very differently than the way people choose. When I think of my own life: if I was God I would never have chosen me to be a pastor's wife. I do not sing well and I don't play piano. When I got married, I could only make spaghetti and peanut butter cookies. My dad was an alcoholic, and my parents split when I was 10. My husband’s mother had picked out a very nice young Mennonite girl for him. I was not what she had in mind. Why would God choose me to be anything? In Bible school I got like the worst marks. People were all worried about me because I got 55% on assignments and exams, I was just thrilled to have anything over 50%.
When I sat in church last Sunday, I was overwhelmed by the incredible kindness of God. All his blessings I have had the privilege of enjoying for so many years.
But God choosing me is not unlike this story in 1 Kings 17 when God told Elijah that He had directed a widow, of all people, to care for his needs during a horrific drought. And she was not even a Jew!
“So, Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks. Elijah called to her and said, ‘Please bring me a little water in a cup, so that I may drink.’ And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, ‘Please bring me a piece of bread.’” 1 Kings 17: 10-11
If you read the passage in its entirety, you will find Elijah desperately needs someone to feed and care for him during this time. It is not a rich widow full of resources that God chooses. No, he chooses a woman who is very familiar with loss and poverty. This is the woman that God chooses to provide for his servant through.
When Elijah enters this woman's hometown, he finds her gathering sticks so she can make a fire and cook bread for the last meal for her and her boy. That is when Elijah finds her and he asks her for a glass of water which the lady has no problem with, she goes willingly to get it. But you can almost see her stop in her tracks as he said: “bring me a little bit of bread.”
This widow turns and she tells Elijah very plainly that she has only enough for one small loaf and that's it. This lady had baked plenty of bread in her day and she knows how much flour she has and what can be made from it. She knows that there is not enough to make 2 loaves. But Elijah tells her what God has promised if she would just give what is being asked. He wants the first loaf, and she can have the second loaf and she will not run out. Part of the beauty of this story is that this woman believed him.
We have the privilege of the whole story in first kings 17. This woman will have a lifetime of testimony of all the great things that God would do in her life if she would believe God for the impossible. Can you imagine sitting in this woman's kitchen and having a cup of tea with her, hearing her stories of the great things she has seen God do!
I feel very much like this woman, and perhaps you do as well.I have seen God do tremendous things over my lifetime. I stand in awe of all that God has done.
Today I just celebrate all of God’s unlikely choices!
Dear father,
Thank you that you're a God of unlikely choices. You choose in ways that are so different to all the rules of humanity. I thank you for your mercy and your kindness. Encourage our hearts. You know exactly what I need, Father.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen