The Flour Jar That Never Ran Empty

There was a woman who had almost nothing left.

She lived in a town called Zarephath, and she had a little boy, and the two of them were so poor and so hungry. For the kingdom of God's people had torn in two, and in the north a king named Ahab had bowed down to a pretend god called Baal. So God sent his prophet Elijah to tell the king, "No rain. Not one drop, until God gives the word." And the sky shut up tight. The fields went dry. The bread ran out. Down at the very bottom of the woman's flour jar there was just a small handful of flour, and a little oil in the jug. That was all.

Do you know what she was doing when Elijah found her? She was picking up sticks. She was going to make one last little fire, and bake one last little loaf, and she and her boy would eat it. And then there would be nothing more.

She was scared, and tired, and down to the last handful.

And Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Make me a little bread first. Then make some for you and your son. Because the God of Israel says this: your flour jar will not run empty, and your oil will not run dry. Not until the rain comes back."

Now that was a very big thing to ask of a woman with one handful left.

But she went, and she did it. She baked the bread.

The next morning, she reached into the jar, and there was flour. The next morning, more flour. And the next. Every single day, just when she thought she had come to the end, there was enough. The jar never ran empty. The oil never ran dry. God was feeding them the way a father slips food onto his children's plates before they even think to ask.

God had not forgotten the poor woman in the little town. He knew exactly where she lived. He knew the name of her boy. He loved her as if she were the only one in all the world, and he was holding her up, one day at a time.

But then something happened that even bread could not fix.

The little boy got sick. And he grew worse. And he died.

His mother's heart broke right in two. And Elijah took the boy in his arms and carried him upstairs and laid him on the bed, and prayed, and prayed, and prayed. "O Lord, let this child live."

And God heard him. The breath came back into the little boy. He was warm. He was alive! Elijah carried him down and laid him in his mother's arms and said, "Look. Your son is living."

A jar that would not run empty, and a boy pulled back from the dark: God was showing his heart, and something even bigger was coming. One day a baby would be born who would call himself the Bread of Life, the bread that never, ever runs out. He would feed hungry crowds on a hillside until every last one was full. And he would take cold, still children by the hand and say, "Little one, get up." And they would.

But that day was still far off, and Elijah's work was not done. King Ahab was still bowing to Baal. So Elijah set his face toward a mountain called Carmel, where God was about to answer with fire.