Provision and Picky Eaters

My mom always said I was scornful. (She had a way with words; scornful was a fancier term for saying I was picky). It wasn't "have it your way at our house"; whatever she made for dinner was what we ate. 

I always despised discernible fat on meat; if I could see it, I wasn't eating it. Growing up,  a cut of beef called salt beef was popular for a while. It was flavorful but lined with fat. Never touched it, or I tried unsuccessfully to remove the fat. Then

God's Provision to The Prophet and The Widow

Have you ever sat through a message at a church where it was titled one thing but the message was about something totally different? There was so much meat being shared - it was a smorgasbord of good stuff; not necessarily connected but all good for you. That's what happened yesterday.

The story of Elijah and the widow in 1 Kings 17, starts off with Elijah being fed by ravens - the ravens would bring Elijah food to eat and he would drink water from the brook. This happened for a length of time. Because there was a famine in the land the brook dried up and the ravens stopped bringing food. God then commanded Elijah to go to a village where He had instructed a widow to feed him. 

The widow was very poor - she was down to her last portion of flour and oil that she would use to make bread. But the widow was also obedient despite her impending need. When Elijah showed up and asked for water and bread, she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.” (v12)

Elijah replied, "Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!” (v13,14)

Knowing that Elijah the prophet was a man of God, she did as he instructed and she, her son, and Elijah were able to eat for many days. The flour and oil miraculously lasted.

And then her son died, and she initially wondered if it was Elijah's fault. It's not a faulty assumption, humanly speaking - she was prepared to die before Elijah showed up; now she is able to survive since he showed up and now her son is dead. The only difference is Elijah.

Elijah takes her son up to his room - laid over him and prayed to God to restore the child's life - and God does. Upon seeing her son alive, she acknowledged that he truly is a man of God and the Lord speaks through him.

This is a powerful story. Using this story, the speaker highlighted the virtues of stewardship which are:

• Service - no matter how much or how little you are entrusted with, a willingness to serve is important. Instead of being greedy or self-centered, focus on others. You never know how you will be blessed.
• Management of what is given to you vs. ownership - as a steward you have been entrusted with the privilege of managing something. You treat it as if it's your own, though it's not. Were you to act like it was yours, you'd be out of line. The analogy used was one of being a server in a restaurant where you serve everyone. Your job is to serve not decide who to serve.
• Long lasting impact - In this story because the widow was obedient when her son died the prophet healed him. In the same vein when you are obedient to God it has a long lasting impact and can impact more people than you would imagine.

It may seem hard or inconvenient to share the little that you have; with God leading you, little is much when God is in it.

So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah. I Kings 17: 15, 16 [NLT]

Are you a good steward? If you struggle in this area, ask God to give you a willing and obedient heart.

It's Monday - this post is inspired by what I heard on Sunday.

Depression is Real

Photo by Melanie Wasser on Unsplash

I'm a Christian; I came to this realization very early in life and have lived a life aligned with the Christian faith. Within Christianity, there are common thoughts that persist even though they are untrue. One of those thoughts is that Christians don't get depressed, or depression is not real.

In reading the book of Job in the Bible, Job acknowledges that he was depressed. His troubles were weighing him down and he didn't understand why so he suffered bouts of depression during his trials.

In Job 30:11,18-23  Job feels cut off and far away from God.
In Job 20:1-14  Job acknowledges that he's faded from prominence.
In Job 30:15-17; 24-31 Job mentions living in terror; he's poor depressed and sick.

Job had all of the conditions that were ripe for (situational) depression, and he expressed it to his friends and to God.

In addition to Job there are many other Biblical figures that dealt with depression:

David - Psalms 37-40 David reflecting on instances when he was wronged. How often the psalms comfort us when we are down.
Jonah - Jonah 4 Jonah felt sorry for himself because of what God decided.
Elijah - 1 Kings 19 Elijah experienced an emotional letdown after defeating false gods.
King Saul - 1 Samuel 16:14-23 - Saul was tormented in his spirit.

So it is foolhardy of Christians to act as if depression does not exist or to simply make light of our emotional state. Job was ill, lost his possessions and his children.  He reasoned with God, questioned God and yet he was still depressed and his situation remained the same. But Job had something many depressed people may not have - he had hope. He did not go into a state of permanent despair, a place where many seem to be and can't seem to escape it. He knew God had the final answer and he would continue to trust God in spite of his circumstances and no matter how he felt.

Depression is an all-encompassing word for when we're feeling down; however, there are degrees of depression (Source):

• Situational depression is, as the name implies, brought on by adverse situations.
• Clinical depression is an ongoing condition that lasts every day for most of the day and for longer than two weeks.
• Chronic depression is less intense than clinical depression but can last much longer—two years at least. It's characterized by fatigue, sadness, and general malaise, and it can be punctuated by bouts of clinical depression.

In your depression, you may be prone to losing hope. Even as a believer you may feel the debilitating consequences of depression; the sadness that overwhelms and makes you feel like you can't go on; the fatigue that drains and immobilizes; the fuzzy feeling that clouds your thinking; the inability to express emotions properly. When we are overtired, stressed, or anxious for long periods of time this may lead to depression. Or sometimes there can be a hormonal imbalance as is the case after giving birth.
The point of this post is that depression exists but it doesn't have to be permanent. You don't need to remain depressed forever. I have been depressed at various points in life. Once I recognized it, I did everything I could to get past it. I researched remedies, went to my doctor, took more time for me, prayed more, and read my Bible more which led to amazing revelations for me that ultimately removed the depression. Like Job, even when I was depressed I never gave up hope. I chose to believe the truths of God's word vs. the lies of the devil. I shared with those closest to me and they were able to help, hold my hand and encourage me.
I've noticed that in marriage when one is up the other is down and vice versa - and it's good because we can be what the other needs at that point in time. In the rare or occasional moments when we're both down we talk it out, laugh it out or hug it out because sometimes nothing can be said. Job had his wife, who is often misunderstood and his friends who at some point became miserable comforters. But in all of this when humans failed Him, he held on to the faithfulness of God. He never gave up on God.

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God!

Psalms 42:11 [NLT]

If you're depressed don't give up hope; seek help and trust God that this too will pass, if not in this life, in the next.