Faith in Hard Times

1 Kings 17:10-13

1 Kings 17:10–13 “So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup and let me drink.” As she went to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I don’t have anything baked—only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.” Then Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid; go and do as you have said. But first make me a small loaf from it and bring it out to me. Afterward, you may make some for yourself and your son.”

Let us Pray.

1929 to 1939 was a period in America known as the Great Depression. It was one of the hardest economic seasons that our country had ever experienced.

During the Great Depression, families had to learn how to survive with very little.

For example, people stood in bread lines just hoping to bring home enough food for the day.

The Stock Market crashed and banks failed. As a result, people lost their life’s savings overnight.

That meant jobs disappeared.

Many parents skipped meals so that their children could eat.

Some people lost their homes, their farms, their businesses.

Many families lived with uncertainty every single day.

And even though most of us did not live during the Great Depression era, many of us today understand that same kind of pressure.

Last year it was the price of eggs.

This year, gas prices are averaging $4.53 per gallon

And for many families, just filling the gas tank has become stressful.

And when you add groceries, rent, utilities, and everyday bills, people are feeling the pressure.

Rent keeps going up. Good jobs are difficult to land. People are working harder and still struggling to stay ahead.

Do you know what it feels like to look at your bank account dwindling, and look at an empty pantry, and wonder, where is God in this?

I’ve been there. I’ve asked the question, “God, how am I going to make it?”

That’s why this story in 1 Kings 17 is so personal to me.

The widow in this text was living through her own Great Depression. There had been a famine in the land for three years. Her resources were literally drying up. Her hope was running low. And she had reached the point where she believed that she only had enough food for one last meal.

But what she didn’t know was this: God specializes in meeting people in empty places.

That leads me to my first observation.

1. God Sees Your Pressure

1 Kings 17:10–11 “So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup and let me drink.” As she went to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.””

Now if we go back to verse 8, we will see that God had commanded the Prophet Elijah to go to Zarephath to meet a widow that would give him provisions. So why is this significant?

Zarephath was in the area called Sidon, which was right outside of Israel. This area was Gentile territory and in a region that was connected with Queen Jezebel. Jezebel’s father was the king of Sidon.

So in other words, Zarephath was enemy territory. It was the homeland of Baal worship where people believed that Baal controlled the rain and the crops.

But ironically, there had been a famine in the land for 3 years at this point in history. Clearly Baal couldn’t stop the drought. No rain meant everyone was suffering. It meant that resources were running low.

Without rain you couldn’t water your crops, which meant you couldn’t eat from the farm.

Without rain you couldn’t give water to your sheep, your goats, your mules. That meant eventually your livestock would die.

Which also meant, that you would lose income without rain.

So here it is, in verse 10, Elijah is in Zarephath

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 17

When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup and let me drink.”

Elijah asking a widow to give him water to drink would have sounded shocking. Widows were among the most vulnerable people in their society.

In that culture, women depended on their husbands and sons to provide for them financially. That meant a woman had little income on her own. She also had limited legal rights and survival was difficult without the support of family.

This widow also had a son to feed. So she wasn’t just grieving the loss of her husband but she was carrying the responsibility of providing for her son while starving.

This wasn’t a widow who was poor because she was lazy. She was trapped in a system where widows often struggled to survive.

When the famine came, food shortages came with it.

Then next was the economic collapse. So the people who were already struggling were hit the hardest.

Under the Law, God specifically built protection into Israel’s society for widows, the poor, foreigners, and orphans. But the widow of Zarephath was outside that covenant community.

This meant she lacked that kind of support system. There was no community safety net. There was no family inheritance rights. She was completely exposed. There were no protections for this widow.

And honestly, not much has changed today.

Sometimes people assume that if someone is struggling financially, they must be lazy.

But there are people working two or three jobs and still cannot get ahead.

There are senior citizens choosing between their medication and their groceries.

There are single moms exhausted trying to stretch every dollar.

The truth is, it is expensive to be poor.

If you have less money you pay higher interest rates, higher fees, higher borrowing costs, higher insurance rates, and ofter more for basic necessities because you can’t buy in bulk or pay in full.

People with resources get discounts while people without resources get penalized.

This widow understood what it meant to live with pressure every day. A handful of flour mattered. Every drop of oil mattered. But God! He saw her suffering.

And that’s why this widow’s story matters. Because God pays attention to the people that the world overlooks.

But the story doesn’t stop with God seeing her pain. God challenged her faith in the middle of it.

Our first observation was, God sees your pressure. Our second observation is,

2. God Honors your Persistence

1 Kings 17:11–12 “As she went to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I don’t have anything baked—only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.””

During the Great Depression, many families faced unimaginable hardships. A pastor in a struggling community chose to focus on hope rather than despair. He encouraged his congregation to open their homes, sharing what little food they had with neighbors in need. Together, they created a ‘community table,’ where every week, those who had more could contribute to help those who had little. Through sharing and fellowship, they found strength and resilience, proving that faith can flourish even in the most challenging times, just like Philippians 4:19 teaches us that God will meet all our needs.

When the Israelites found themselves wandering in the desert after escaping Egypt, they faced hunger and uncertainty. But every morning, God provided manna from heaven. This miraculous provision wasn't just about food; it was a lesson in trusting God. Even when adversity surrounds us, faith reassures us that God will provide for our needs. Matthew 6:33 teaches us to seek first His kingdom and righteousness, assuring us that all these things will be given to us as well. It's a reminder that our provision comes not from our circumstances, but from our faith in God’s promises.

God Sees your Pressure, God Honors your Persistence, and finally,

3. God Provides Through Provision