Divine providence and provision

https://odb.org/2025/08/14/god-provides

1 Kings 17:7–16 (NIV): 7 Some time later, the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
12 “As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first, make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.’ ”
15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up, and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.

The story of Elijah and the Phoenician widow in 1 Kings 17 is a favourite passage of preachers to convey the rhema Word for His people for a season. It is somewhat similar to the story of Elisha with the widow in 2 Kings 4, where a prophet’s widow in debt was saved by the multiplication of a small amount of olive oil into as many containers as she could find to fill, for her to later sell and repay her debts.

These encounters with divine providence and provision prove and demonstrate that Yahweh could provide much out of little. This is also similar to the miracles of Jesus feeding the 4,000 and the 5,000 in the New Testament. In the latter case, with 5 loaves and 2 fish, while the former, with 7 loaves and a few small fish.

In all such cases, there was a divine objective to be achieved. In the case of Elijah with the Phoenician widow, it was to prove that Yahweh was more powerful than Baal, Canaan and the surrounding territories’s dominant diety and on agriculture, by creating a severe famine by ceasing rain for a period of time. It culminated with Elijah defeating (and executing) 450 prophets of Baal in the contest at Mount Carmel when he, in stark contrast to the prophets of Baal, managed to call on fire from heaven to burn the drenched sacrifice. After that, Elijah prayed to Yahweh, and the rain returned, ending the famine, proving once again that Yahweh was more powerful than Baal.

Can we apply the above to our lives? That God will provide for us in our times of famine and financial difficulties? We have heard testimonies of people having raw rice (beras in Malay) in containers that miraculously do not diminish or missionaries and ministers receiving cheques in the mail or bank transfers at critical times (doesn’t usually appear out of nowhere but because the Holy Spirit prompted someone to do so). 

I believe that God will provide for His people through various means, including opening doors for us to earn our living, which sometimes can by itself be a miracle! We should pray and ask the Lord who is loving and compassionate if we are in dire need of His supernatural intervention. But always remember that it is never as of our right. It is by His grace and mercy. It is His discretion. It is based on His plans and purposes for our lives. It is to achieve a specific purpose, perhaps to demonstrate His love and compassion for us. It is always in His divine timing and will.