The tale of two widows... the first widow: a story of flour and oil.

What I've been reflecting on this morning is not a brand new idea to me. In fact, if you scroll down on the right hand side of this web page and click on the link for August 2008, you will find my original experiences in following the example of two widows we read about in the Bible. 

In the story of the first widow, in 1 Kings 17, this lady was facing some real needs, but I saw that she stepped out with the little that she already had (some flour and oil) even though it wasn’t nearly enough... and God caused that supply to keep flowing. When the prophet Elijah asked the widow for something to eat, she didn’t say, “Sorry, I can’t help you. I don’t have enough to live on myself.” She just stepped out with that little bit of flour and oil that she already had, and God did a miracle: her flour and oil simply never ran out, but continued flowing and were always enough.

I realised, back in summer of 2008, that I’d been feeling as if my life was “on hold” - knowing that I couldn’t step out to rent a flat in Spain if I didn’t have even a reasonable percentage of the money needed to pay for it and furnish it. (I’ve lived my whole life with the principle of never getting into debt.) But I also knew that I couldn’t wait indefinitely and so, when I read this widow’s story, I felt challenged to “step out” with the resources that I already had - even if my “flour and oil” wasn't nearly enough yet - and to trust that God would keep the flow coming. It doesn’t sound a particularly responsible thing to do, but - as I’ve discovered over the past decades - steps of faith often don’t look the slightest bit responsible or logical on the surface. 

And so I stepped out and booked my plane ticket to Malaga: I was going to move down to Spain on Sunday 5th October, even though I didn't yet know where I would live, or how I would pay for it, but I knew that God was saying it was now time to take a new step of faith.

What about you? Are you facing any situations at the moment that just seem "too big" for you? At times when our "flour and oil" seem totally inadequate for the task ahead, that's when we need to remember that God is always bigger than any challenge we might face, and sometimes He asks us just to step out in simple trust and faith.

A couple of weeks after I booked that Malaga plane ticket in 2008, a relatively new friend contacted me to ask if I'd like a housemate; she was planning to move to Spain to work with the same ministry project I'd committed to. Suddenly, I only needed to be able to pay half of the rent on a house or flat and, by the time I arrived in Spain, we had found the house we'd live in for that first year in Alhaurín de la Torre.

Now, in 2023, I find myself in a strangely similar situation. I need to move to a new house this year, but I don't seem to have adequate resources to make that possible. And so I'm again asking myself: Is there a step of faith that God wants me to take this time too? Am I to step out in some way with the resources that I already have?

What about you in whatever situation or circumstance you find yourself in at the beginning of this new year? What might God be asking you to do?

Read on below to find out more about how to help miracles happen.