Devotional Series: The Crown Within the Cross
Lessons from the life of the Widow of Zarephath- When experience isn’t enough
All our lives are but a collection of experiences that shape who we are, the direction we follow and the perceptions, values we hold. Whilst not everything we go through in life is the outworking of God’s perfect will for us, nor is it that every experience we have encountered part of God’s plan, it can still be true that even those experiences surrounded in pain and trauma can work for us too. Experience often teaches what words may fail to impress and impart lessons that leave a lasting mark on our lives. However, experience can be the most uncomfortable of teachers, for it shines a light on areas of our characters that are lacking and unearths hidden misconceptions that have governed our lives. In each experience we go through in life, good or bad, positive or negative, an invitation is extended to us to know the Father’s heart more deeply and to understand His character more fully. Without the knowledge of who God is or a right conception of His character, experience can only take us so far. It can take us on a sea voyage but leave us stranded without an anchor when the waves are soaring high, it can lead us up the steep mountainside, without a compass in which to guide. Experiences can leave us hanging, left to figure out the why and purpose behind it all, posing more questions than answers, leaving us more doubtful that hopeful. However, a true understanding of the character of God is what enables all our life experiences to work for our development, it’s what keeps us together when everything around us is crumbling. It provides us with a road map so that we can navigate the twists and turns of life. Understanding who God is and who He isn’t is the only true lens that makes the confusing picture of life clear among the clouds of doubt and despair. It is this, that helps up sift through the disappointments and misrepresentations we may have encountered along life’s pathway. Sometimes, we don’t understand His ways or His purposes straight away and so like the Widow of Zarephath God tries different means to reach our hearts. As He does this work, we get to see not only the true state of our own hearts but His too. His heart that loves us through the journey of becoming. His love that pursues whilst we don’t have everything together, when our lives aren't always a perfect performance. When we understand who He is as our Father, Saviour, Redeemer and Friend, our faith can reach new heights and our relationship with Him can deepen. When the trials of life work as agents to deepen our love and commitment to Him, it is then that we see one of the greatest evidence of the power of His love to transform our lives and regenerate our hearts. It’s this living faith, that should define our experiences rather than, allowing the changing experiences of life to shape the integrity of our faith. “Our faith should be used to define our experiences, rather than experiences being used to shape the integrity of our faith. ”
1 Kings 17:17
17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
After experiencing the abundance of God’s provision following the Widow of Zarephath’s decision to surrender the little that she had, another trial was before her. Since we do not know when our next life changing event will take place, every experience should be utilised for our preparation. If your season right now is one of abundance and welcomed blessings, use that time to also prepare for the hardships and challenges to come, because they will! If you’re in a wilderness season, gather the lessons your learning in your present to propel you into the future. Nothing should be wasted, no experience cast to the wayside. Whilst it is true that God does not tempt any of us, He can allow the hand of the enemy to be felt in our lives for a time, not for our destruction but for our purification. The results of the purification are usually more fully seen and realised once the ordeal has been completed, then the transformation that has occurred becomes apparent. However, God is calling us to remain faithful during the process, during those times when we cannot define and make out the finished product.“God is calling us to remain faithful during the process, during those times when we cannot define and make out the finished product.”
One could say that the Widow had an advantage given that she had already seen God do the impossible for her in the past, thus leaving her no room to doubt or worry should she be called to make a similar surrender of all she had again. However, we only need to look at our own lives to see how desperately we fall short and forget how faithful He has been in the past. Here, we see the insufficiency of experience alone. Experience without learning, experience without recollection and experience without growing faith, can start us on our Christian journey, but it won’t complete it. Experience might have got us through yesterday's trials, but it may not be enough to keep us secure and steadfast in the weeks to come. Experience must be joined with our walk with Jesus, the author, finisher and Divine overseer of our life, in order for us to experience growth. How we started our walk with the Lord, is not how God wants us to finish. Each day, we need a fresh, living experience to meet the challenges unique for that day. Thus, our every day experiences we have gained with the Lord acts as a steppingstone for us to wield a greater, stronger faith, love and devotion.
1 Kings 17:18-19
18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
Whilst the Widow of Zarephath had the experience of seeing the power of God multiplying the little oil she had left; she did not fully comprehend the character of the God who performed the miracle. Though she had previously demonstrated a level of faith that allowed her to live above the fear of the unknown, there was still more for her to understand and comprehend of God. The response she gave to the prophet highlights the mindset so many of us have or have had, me included! She saw the problems, trials and sufferings of her life as acts of God to cause her pain, to inflict punishment that in her mind, she had told herself she deserved. God is righteous and just, He is fair in all of His doings which includes respecting and honouring the consequences of the decisions we make for and against Him. But let us not forget His love and mercy. His mercy that will by no means clear the guilty but will remove the guilt through the provision made at Calvary. His love that offers us forgiveness and pardon. Her wrong conception of the character of God, directly impacted her faith and how she related to God and those around her. What she thought of God, she projected onto others which merely reflected upon herself. Although the entrance of the Prophet into her life only brought her blessings, this she forgot under the pressure. Yet, God used this trial to highlight the insecurities that still existed in her heart, to heal her. The guilt and shame of sin, the accusations Satan seeks to remind us of are his methods used to keep us from fully trusting in the goodness of God. To be fully known and yet, fully loved is a concept we all desire to experience, but how few of us recognise as we should, that we are loved in this way already by our Heavenly Father! So long as Satan can keep us in a place of shame, he has access to us that will surface when brought under test and trial. “So those who are deceived by Satan look upon God as hard and exacting. They regard Him as watching to denounce and condemn, as unwilling to receive the sinner so long as there is a legal excuse for not helping him…But he whose eyes have been opened by the love of Christ will behold God as full of compassion. He does not appear as a tyrannical, relentless being, but as a father longing to embrace his repenting son.”
Sometimes God temporarily allows the blessings He has given in our lives to be removed, for our own hearts to receive the healing we need. It sounds strange, right? The Widow of Zarephath was now called to give up the most precious possession she had, not merely the resources but part of her identity when giving her son to the prophet. Yet, it was in her sacrifice that new life was formed, not only for her son who Elijah resurrected through the power of God, but also for her. She received the healing balm for her own soul that she might not have realised was so needed had she not had this experience of sacrifice and trial. In sacrificing what she held as dear, she gained the experience with the Lord that she needed more than any other blessing. She experienced for herself that He was true, that His word could be trusted and His heart of love, loved her more than she could imagine. Jesus made the difference in her experience and the understanding of His character connected the dots that hitherto looked confusion, He gave the trials of her life meaning and purpose, He made her experience more than enough for. Some of us have spent too long dwelling the the valley of a warped view of God, swaying from two extreme views that both lead us down a path of despair and confusion. To avoid the liberal nature of the one, we can drift into the man made conservativeness of the other. Jesus say’s if any man has seen me they have seen the Father, that He and His Father are One and that the Father Himself loves us and it is with that Love that He gave us His Son to save us from the guilt and shame of sin (John 14:9, John 10:30, John 16:27, John 3:16). With such measureless, boundless infinite love, we are called to behold it and to allow that love to change our minds (1 John 3:1, Philippians 2:5). As it transforms our lives, we cannot but come to a clearer understand of who He is. The misrepresentations we may have seen, the poor demonstrations witnessed cannot erase the imprint He already sealed in our minds. No matter the experience, the trial, the cross, the crown truly is found in the beauty of the discovery of Who He is and what He wants to be to us. That will be an anchor to the soul, a shade in the furnace of life, a comfort to the bruises and pains we may incur as we journey through life. 