In today’s reading (1 Kings 17:8–16), we again meet the prophet Elijah, whom God sends to Zarephath, where He had commanded a widow to feed him (v. 9). When Elijah finds her gathering wood at the city gate, he asks her to bring him water and a morsel of bread. The poor widow replies: “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a cruse; and now, I am gathering a couple of sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die” (v. 12).
Nevertheless, Elijah encourages her to do as he has told her: first bring him a small loaf of bread, and then make one for herself and her son (v. 13). He assures her: “thus says the Lord the God of Israel, ‘The jar of meal shall not be spent, and the cruse of oil shall not fail, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth” (v. 14).
The widow does as Elijah tells her, believing his words, and what he predicted comes true to the letter. To listen to a true prophet such as Elijah is to listen to the voice of God. That is what the widow did, and as a reward, God ensured that she had enough food to keep herself and her son alive. She obeyed Elijah’s request even though her situation was desperate. From a human point of view, it would have been understandable if she had refused his request in order to preserve the little she had for herself and her son.