A New Year. New challenges. New adventures. From what we have learned from the years gone by, there will be excitement, breathtaking miracles, trials, and tests, and the presence of the LORD with us through every single moment. Could 2025 be the year we choose to live in faith and obedience like those great heroes of the faith? A great army marching side by side, conquering the great unknown for the King and His Kingdom?
As I contemplated one of those great heroes, Elijah, I concluded that so many of those quests and commands from the Great I Am are often not the way I would plan them, but Elijah was obedient every step of the way. Do you remember the widow whose oil and flour never ran out? The story in 1 Kings 17 is worth a read. “𝙂𝙤 𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙕𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙞𝙙𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙬𝙞𝙙𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙.” Go to a region of the Gentiles, Sidon, the one where Jezebel reigns? Surely there were widows in Israel. A widow would supply Elijah with food! Were they not the ones who lived in poverty? An unlikely quest, but one that Elijah obeyed without question when I have so many.
As Elijah met with the young widow and asked her to feed him, he certainly challenged the status quo. She told him she was gathering sticks to cook a last meal for herself and her son and then they would die! His response was contrary to anything that could be seen, when all the widow could see was scarcity, he talked of plenty, Elijah recognized God’s provision when the widow could only see deprivation. Elijah brought an encouraging word, one of faith into a situation of fear and resignation, his words to her; “𝘿𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙.”
Elijah trusted in the promise before He saw it, he knew God would deliver. He acted in obedience. Death and disaster were silenced by hope and a breathtaking miracle broke through. God provided, for both Elijah and the Gentile widow and her son.
As we go into 2025 let’s be like Elijah, trusting in the promises of God even when we don’t see them, obedient to those instructions that seem out of the ordinary, a willing participant in God’s breathtaking miracles! 
Claire's Prayer 