The widow of Zarephath had...
Illustration
The widow of Zarephath had only a handful of meal, of which she intended to make a small cake of bread, after which she expected that she and her son would die of starvation. Elijah said, "First make me a little cake of it." Selfishness on the part of Elijah? Hardhearted insensitiveness to that widow's plight? No; rather it was a test of her faith.
In the midst of a desert stands a water pump, beside the pump this sign: "I have buried a bottle of water in the sand by the pump. There is only enough water to prime the pump. Don't drink any of it. Pour half into the pump to wet the leather; wait a little while and then pour in the rest. Then pump; the water will come. The well has never gone dry. When you are through drawing water, fill the bottle again and bury it in the sand for the next traveler."
All right, you are that traveler; and you are hot and thirsty, your water supply is almost exhausted, and you come to that pump, and you read that sign. You dig into the sand, and sure enough, there is that bottle filled with nice clear, clean water. You take it up and hold it in your hand, and you have a critical decision to make. There stands that pump, rusty and bone dry. Will you pour that precious water down that rusty old spout? Will you have that much faith? The widow of Zarephath had it.
--Mann
In the midst of a desert stands a water pump, beside the pump this sign: "I have buried a bottle of water in the sand by the pump. There is only enough water to prime the pump. Don't drink any of it. Pour half into the pump to wet the leather; wait a little while and then pour in the rest. Then pump; the water will come. The well has never gone dry. When you are through drawing water, fill the bottle again and bury it in the sand for the next traveler."
All right, you are that traveler; and you are hot and thirsty, your water supply is almost exhausted, and you come to that pump, and you read that sign. You dig into the sand, and sure enough, there is that bottle filled with nice clear, clean water. You take it up and hold it in your hand, and you have a critical decision to make. There stands that pump, rusty and bone dry. Will you pour that precious water down that rusty old spout? Will you have that much faith? The widow of Zarephath had it.
--Mann
