Lack of rainfall meant crops could not grow, and for the widow who lived alone in Zarephath with her young son, it brought the premonition of starvation and death. Gathering sticks for the fire needed to cook her last meal, she was approached by Elijah who promised her adequate provisions if she would prepare a meal for him as well. With her container of flour and her container of oil nearly empty, she willingly shared what she had and opened her home to the prophet. When hunger said it was time to eat again, the empty containers that could have, should have, been expected, always held flour and oil for another meal. The provision came from God to fill up the emptiness.
I sat with a friend as we talked about the many, many moms who surround us who have suffered the loss of a child. The latest census report counted over 12 million people living in the two southern California counties of Los Angeles and Orange. To estimate that two million of them have been or are moms seems reasonable. Checking statistics about childhood mortality, again, a reasonable deduction is that one mom in every hundred has lost a child sometime between infancy and young adulthood. For the two counties closest to us, that means 20,000 moms living within miles of us, have lost a child. Those are staggering numbers, but the reality of loss is horrendous. Tragic, heartbreaking emptiness, and the mom who loses a child is not consumed with numbers. She is consumed with the raw and wretched emptiness that consumes her own heart.
And so much more can shatter a life and cause it to reek with emptiness. Loss can have a multitude of faces. The inner person is shredded and the emptiness intrudes when abuse happens, or abandonment, neglect, broken relationships, failure, unkept promises, or unmet expectations. Health deteriorates or children scoff at parents who have given everything to nurture them. And the shattered life struggles to fill the emptiness. The provision for a widow and her young son, came from God, and God promises His provision as well to us, to fill up the emptiness.
Is that really possible??? God’s Word promises a completion for the believer. Paul told the Colossians they were “complete” in Christ. “Complete” is a nautical term meaning “I have everything I need for the journey,” whatever that journey looks like or wherever that journey takes us. Paul told the Corinthians they only needed God’s grace and that God’s grace accomplished more when life made us feel “weak.” He satisfies the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul He fills with what is good. The possibility is real. We simply need to ask.
(Related Bible reading: Colossians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Psalm 107:9)
