Why Me?

Q: What does the Bible say about God's provision in times of need?

The Bible teaches that God provides for His people even in dire circumstances, as demonstrated in 1 Kings 17. In 1 Kings 17, we see the story of Elijah during a famine when God provided for him through ravens and later through a widow in Zarephath. God commands Elijah to go to the widow, promising that her supplies will not run out as long as she puts God's messenger first. This demonstrates God's faithfulness and ability to provide in times of desperation, showing that He cares for His people and will supply their needs according to His purpose and grace.

Q: How do we know that God has an elect people?

The Bible illustrates God's election through various accounts, including the widow of Zarephath, demonstrating His sovereign choice. The concept of God's elect is found throughout Scripture, where God chooses certain individuals for salvation and grace. In the case of the widow of Zarephath, Jesus points out in Luke 4 that this chosen woman received God's message through Elijah, highlighting that God has an elect people beyond Israel. This affirms the doctrine of election, showcasing God's sovereignty in salvation, as He chooses whom He will call and awaken to faith in Him.

Q: Why is faith important in the Christian life?

Faith is essential in Christianity as it is the means through which believers receive God's promises and assurance. Faith is the response to God's word and promises, showing trust in His character. In 1 Kings 17, the widow demonstrates faith by obeying Elijah's command despite her desperate situation. By preparing a meal for Elijah first, she acts on God's promise that her supplies would not fail. This is a fundamental aspect of Christian life; genuine faith leads to obedience and a deeper relationship with God. As seen in 2 Timothy 1:9, faith is tied to understanding God's purpose and grace, highlighting its central role in a believer's life.

Q: What can we learn from the story of the widow of Zarephath?

The widow's story teaches us about God's provision, the necessity of faith, and the importance of responding to God's call. The widow of Zarephath's story exemplifies how God orchestrates events for His glory and the benefit of His chosen people. Despite her dire situation, she responds with faith upon hearing God's messenger, Elijah. This shows that God provides for those in need and that faith precedes God's blessings. The narrative illustrates that God often uses unlikely individuals and circumstances to demonstrate His grace and power. Furthermore, it stresses the significance of obedience in faith, reminding believers to trust in God’s provision despite their circumstances.

Q: Why did Elijah go to the widow instead of other people?

Elijah was sent to the widow because God chose her as one of His elect to receive His message during the famine. In God’s sovereignty, He directed Elijah to the widow of Zarephath rather than to any of the widows in Israel. This action illustrates the doctrine of election, where God selects particular individuals to receive His grace. Jesus refers to this story in Luke 4 to emphasize that God's grace is available to all, not just the Jews. The widow symbolizes those whom God calls and prepares to hear His message, demonstrating that salvation is by God's sovereign choice and not based on merit.

I want you to open your Bibles
first to the book of Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10. Back long, long
ago when the Roman Empire flourished and Rome was for all practical
purposes the capital of the world. Someone made the statement, all
roads lead to Rome. All roads lead to Rome. Now, in a sense, that may have
been true. But this I know for a fact, that
those who would study the Scriptures, with a desire to understand what
the scriptures teach. Those who would study the scriptures,
the Bible, with a sincere desire to know the only true God and
Jesus Christ, whom he had sent, will do well to learn this first,
that in the Bible All Scripture points to Christ. All roads lead to Calvary. That's
just truth. It says here in Acts 10, verse
43, and you put a circle around this verse, to Him, Acts 10,
verse 43, to Him, give all the prophets witness. Who are the
prophets? From Moses to Malachi. Every
prophet. To Jesus Christ give all the
prophets witness. And this is their witness. This
is what they say about Him. That through His name, His name
is who He is. His name is what He did. His
name is Jesus. He'll save His people from this
sin. That through His name, Whosoever believeth in him should receive
remission of sins. The good news of the gospel.
That in him there's forgiveness. In him there's redemption. Now
that's what they all say. That's elementary. That's just
basics. All Scripture points to Christ.
And all roads lead to Calvary. Now with that in mind, I want
you to turn to 1 Kings. Chapter 17. Now here's one of
the prophets, and here's the Scriptures, and here's His Word. And I'm going to read it. I'm
going to point out four things this morning from this passage
of Scripture. 1 Kings 17, verses 1 through
16. I want you to see four things. While I'm reading it, you try to find The message,
the gospel, that which points to Christ. Find these four things. First, we're going to look at
the prophet. The prophet. Secondly, the woman. Thirdly, the message. Fourthly,
the response. All right. Would you go turn
that off? You know where it is in the furnace
room there? Turn it off completely. All right,
let's read 1 Kings 17. And Elijah the Tishbite, who was
of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God
of Israel liveth before whom I stand, there shall not be dune
or rain these years, but according to my word. And the word of the
Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward,
and hide thyself by the brook Sheareth, that is, before Jordan. And it shall be that thou shalt
drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed
thee there. So Elijah went and did according
to the word of the Lord. For he went and dwelt, dwelt
by the brook Shedrick, that is before Jordan. And the ravens
brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh
in the evening, bread and meat. The ravens, the birds, brought
him food morning and evening. He drank of the brook. And it
came to pass after a while that the brook dried up, because there
had been no rain in the land. And the word of the Lord came
unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarepha, which belonged
to Sidon, Sarepta, a city of Sidon, that's what that is, and
dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow
woman there to feed thee, to sustain thee. And he arose and
went to Sarepta. And when he came to the gate
of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering stakes,
And he called to her and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little
water in a vessel that I may drink. And as she was going to
fetch it, he called to her and said, Bring me, I pray thee,
a morsel of bread in your hand. And she said, As the Lord thy
God liveth, I have not bread. I have not a cake. I have a handful
of meal in a barrel. I have a little oil in a cruise.
And behold, I am gathering two steaks, that I may go in and
dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die." See,
there is a famine, three years of famine. And Elijah said to
her, fear not. You go and do as thou hast said,
but make me thereof a cake first. You go, build your fire, mix
your oil bread, a meal, bake a cake, but you bring me a cake
first, and then you make one for you and your son. But thus
saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not
waste, neither shall the crucible of oil fail, until the day the
Lord sendeth rain upon this earth. And she went. And she did according
to the saying of Elijah. She and he in her house did eat
a full year, many days. And the barrel of
meal wasted not, neither did the crucible of oil fail according
to the word of the Lord which he spoke by Elijah. Christ is there? Yes, sir. The
gospel is there? Yes, sir. How God saves the sinners
there? Yes, sir. It's all there. To
Him give all the prophets witness. Now let's look first of all at
the prophet. There was a famine in the land. I know how long
it lasted because chapter 18, verse 1 says, It came to pass
after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in
the third year, saying, Go show yourself to Ahab, I'll send rain
upon the earth." There was a famine in the land.
Alright, we have a famine. There's a famine today. It's
a famine of a different sort. I saw on the television that
the economy is up, and unemployment is down, and people are buying
more than ever. But we've got another kind of
famine. Turn to Amos chapter 8. If you have trouble finding
that little minor prophet, just listen to this scripture. Amos
chapter 8 verse 11. Now it's a different kind of
famine. But we're in a famine. It's a different kind. And here's
the kind we're in today. Here's the famine that's lasted
longer than three years. In Amos 8 verse 11, Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord God, when I'll send a famine in the
land. Not a famine of bread, we've got plenty of bread. Nor
a thirst for water, we've got plenty of water. But hearing
the word of the Lord. That's the famine. And they shall
wander from sea to sea, from north even to the east. They
shall run to and fro and seek the Word of the Lord and not
find it. Just this week, this past week, I got letters from
Massachusetts, from a young student at MIT. He said, I've been to
church after church after church in this town. I can't find anybody
preaching the gospel. From a town in Michigan down
below Minneapolis, A dear person wrote, I shared the letter Wednesday
night with our people. She said, I drive three and a
half hours to Joe Terrell's church to hear the gospel. There's nobody
preaching the word of God in my town. 131,000 people live
in her town. This is the famine we're suffering.
It's a famine of truth. It's a famine of the Word of
God. People will wander from sea to sea, from town to town,
hunting somebody who's telling the truth about God. All right. In chapter 1 of 1 Kings 17, And
Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead,
said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom
I stand, there shall not be dune or rain these years, but according
to my word. God has a prophet. The Lord has
never left Himself without a witness. Isn't that what He said in Acts
14? Listen to this, in Acts 14, verse 16 and 17. Listen to this, Acts 14, 16 and
17. God's never left Himself without a witness. He's always
got a witness. Always. It says in Acts 14, verse
16, God in times past suffered all nations to walk in their
own ways. Nevertheless, He left not Himself
without a witness. God always has somebody telling
the truth about Him, preaching His Word. In fact, our Lord Jesus
said, listen to this, our Lord Jesus said to those people when
He was coming into Jerusalem, listen to this, in Luke 19, Verse
37, When he was come nigh, even nigh at the descent of the Mount
of Olives, the whole multitude of his followers began to rejoice
and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they
had seen. And they said, Blessed be the King that cometh in the
name of the Lord. Peace in heaven, glory in the
highest. And some of the Pharisees, religious Pharisees from among
the multitude said to Jesus, Master, rebuke your disciples.
These followers of Christ were saying, Blessed be the King that
cometh in the name of the Lord because of the miracles, wonderful
works He had done. And the Pharisees said, Stop
them from praising You and exalting You and honoring You and glorifying
You. And Jesus answered and said to them, I tell you,
if they hold their peace, the rocks will cry out. That's right. He has a witness. If I don't
magnify and exalt Him, the rocks will. That's all right. The world knew Him not. He came
on His own. His own received Him not. But
He has a witness. He has a witness. He has a prophet. God has somebody somewhere who
will tell the truth about Him and about men and about salvation.
Always does. And Elijah is that man. Look at verse 2, And the word
of the Lord came to him, saying, Now this famine is coming over
the whole land, but I'm going to take care of you. You go down
here, get thee hence, verse 3, and turn thee eastward, and hide
yourself by the brook Shireth, that is before Jordan. And it
shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook, I've commanded
the ravens to feed you. You know, the Lord can provide
with means or without means. He can provide miraculously or
naturally, but He'll take care of His people. David said, I've
been young, I'm now old, I've never seen God's seed begging
bread. That's the reason our Lord said,
don't take thought for what you'll eat and drink, what you'll wear.
God, your Father knows you need these things. He'll provide for
you. Seek ye first the kingdom of God. The Lord has a people. The Lord has a prophet. And the
Lord will provide for them. Some way He'll provide. There
was a famine. There was enmity. The rulers
were against him. He told Elijah, you go over here.
And you sit by the brook, and I'll provide for you. I'll provide
for you." So he went, verse 5, and did according to the word
of the Lord. He went and dwelt by the brook, Sheareth, that
is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread
and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening,
and he drank of the brook. Elijah was very happy there. I don't know how long he stayed
there, but he's right there by that pretty stream of water,
drinking. The ravens are bringing him bread
and meat every morning, every evening. But look at the next verse. It
came to pass after a while the brook dried up. There had been no rain in the
land. Even that brook dried up. The ravens quit bringing bread
and meat. The Lord wanted Elijah somewhere
else. Now listen to me a moment. So he forced him out. Don't you
imagine Elijah would have stayed right where he was. I wouldn't
blame him, would you? I mean, he had a brook, he lived
by a creek. There he was, he had his stream
of water. He had two good meals a day.
Not meals on wheels, but meals on wings. Brought it to him,
cooked and prepared. I wouldn't blame him. I stayed
right there. Meals on wings. Clean, pure,
clear water. Plenty of fish. Oh, my. You would have stayed there,
but the Lord wanted him somewhere else. He had to leave his comforts
and leave these things and go where God would take him. Something
to learn there, isn't it? You know, the Lord did that to
the early church. I want you to look at Acts 8.
Acts chapter 8. But notice Elijah didn't leave
until God moved him. He didn't leave until God moved
him. In Acts chapter 8, verse 3, listen to this. As for Saul,
he made havoc of the church, entering into every house and
hailing men and women, committing them to prison. Therefore they
that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the gospel.
The early church was in Jerusalem. Comfortable, happy. All their
friends were there, families. And the Lord wanted them to take
the gospel to other places. His will was for them to not
sit there together in comfort and ease and fellowship, but
to go into all the world and preach the gospel. They wouldn't
go. They were sitting here, happy, comfortable. So he sent Saul
down to beat up on them. And they had to leave. And they
went everywhere preaching the gospel. That's how the gospel
was spread in those early days, that God used the hatred of the
enemy to drive them out to do what He called them to do to
start with. And here Elijah sitting there by that brook and down
here in Sarepta and Sidon, one of God's elect, got to hear the
gospel. So He drove him out. Alright,
now look at the woman. There's the prophet, verse 8,
And the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Arise and get
thee to Zarephath, that's Zarephath in your margin there, which belonged
to Sidon, and you dwell there, because I have commanded a widow
woman to feed you. Now this woman was one of God's
elect, and when our Lord Jesus Christ came to the world. And when He went to Nazareth
as His custom was to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood
up to read and preach to them, He preached about this woman.
That's right. When our Lord Jesus preached
to the synagogue in Nazareth, He preached about this woman.
Turn to Luke 4 and let me show you this. He preached about this
woman. In Luke chapter 4, Luke 4, verse 25, our Lord is
showing these Nazarenes down there in Nazareth that God is
sovereign in salvation. He has an elect people, not necessarily
Jews, but Gentiles. He'll choose whom He will. He'll
quicken whom He will. And He says in Luke 4, 25, I
tell you the truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of
Elias, that is Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years
and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land.
What I'm preaching to you this morning, Jesus Christ preached
down there in Nazareth in Luke 4. Now listen to the next verse.
But unto none of these widows was Elijah sent, God sent him,
save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, to a woman that was a
widower. My Lord, boy, I feel on good ground this morning.
My Lord preached this to show people God has an elect whom
He'll seek and find and call, to whom He'll send a preacher.
She was one of God's elect. God has an elect people. The
Lord has an elect people whom He has chosen, whom He will awaken,
whom He will call, whom He will bring to Himself. That's so.
But the prophet didn't know she was one of God's elect. In fact,
Elijah would have never gone to this woman. Now, here's a
prophet of God, and he's been living by the brook and the books
dried up. The ravens have been bringing him food, and the ravens
have quit coming. He's in a famine. He's in a fix.
Do you think he would have gone down to a Gentile city? He's
a Jewish prophet. He would have never gone to Sarepta,
to a Gentile city. Even if he had gone to Jindal
City, this man wouldn't have asked a woman to supply him with
food. Never! But never would he have
asked a widow woman. Bob, even if he had gone to Jindal
City, even if he had asked a woman for a handout, he looked at this
woman and knew she couldn't help him. She didn't have anything. She was a widow. Well, God has an elect people. They're in strange places. They're
unusual people. And the prophets do not know
who they are. Secondly, the woman didn't know she was God's elect. She didn't know. She didn't have
any idea she was one of God's elect. She didn't have any idea. And
I hear people say, well, if I just knew I was one of God's elect.
No, you don't want to know that. And I'll tell you why, mainly. If you did, you'd trust that
and not Christ. That's right. If you got some
kind of special message from somewhere that you were one of
the elect, that's what you'd depend on, that message at that
time. Isn't that right? You make your
election sure by your calling. That's how you determine your
election. Have you been called? Have you heard the gospel? Have
you received it? Have you believed it? You make
your calling and election sure. Not backwards. You don't make
your election and then you call. You make your calling and election
sure. How do I know this woman was
one of the elect? God called her. God sent a preacher to her. She heard the Word of God. She
believed it. That's right. How do I know she
wanted God's elect? Because verse 9, God said, I
have commanded her. She'll hear you. I've already,
you know, isn't this marvelous? Elijah is going down here to
Sarepta. There's a woman, a widow woman
that's going to feed him. She doesn't know it and he doesn't
know it, but God knows it. And God's already started working
in her heart. Already. Already moved. I've already commanded her. I've
already put my Spirit within her. She's different. All right. What's the message now? In other
words, David said, Thy people shall be willing in the day of
thy power. When? You know, I don't know
how old this woman is. Her husband lived and died. She
has a son. I don't know how long she's been
in darkness. That's immaterial. It's, thou people shall be willing
when your power moves upon them, in the day of your power, when
you make them willing, in His own time. But it's time now. All right, look at the message.
Verse 10, So he arose and went to Sarepta, and when he came
to the gate of the city, Behold, the widow woman was there. I
like that. She was there. Our Lord Jesus,
the woman at Samaria was one of His children, and when He
came to the well, she was there. I like that. God moves in mysterious ways,
His wonders to perform. He plants His footsteps on the
sea, rides on the storm. She was there. Somebody said to Brother Groover
one time, if I believed in election like you do, I wouldn't go to
the mission field. He said, that's why I go. God said to Elijah, there's a
woman down there that I've commanded to feed you. That's why he went.
God didn't say, go down to Sarepta and see if you can find anybody
to feed you. He would not have gone. He went because God sent
him. He went because there was somebody
there. in whom God was working. And
what's this? And she was gathering sticks. I'm going to stop there
a minute. She was gathering sticks. I'll
tell you this. Times were hard and bad. You
realize this woman was poor, but she wasn't lazy. She wasn't waiting for somebody
to hand her something. She was working. You think about
this. Here's a widow woman. has a son,
down the bottom of the barrel is a little bit of meal, and
over here in the pot is just a little bit of oil. There's
no money, there's nobody to help, there's nobody to turn to, and
here she is out walking, gathering wood to build a fire to cook. God's people may be poor, but
they're not lazy. They're not traveling. They're
busy. They're busy. That's exactly
right. That's exactly right. And he
said to her, now watch this, he said to her, fetch me, I pray
thee, a little water in a vessel that I may drink. Does that remind
you of anything? Our Lord Jesus Christ came to
the well one time, being wearied with his journey, and his disciples
had gone into the city to buy something to eat, and a woman
came to the well and he said, give me a drink of water. That's
exactly what his servant said to him, give me a drink of water.
Tell you why he's doing this. He didn't just pop up and say
to her, well, you're one of God's elect and God sent me here to
tell you so. No. Our Lord didn't say that to the
woman at the well. He got her attention. Now, I don't know
where I'm going here, but I know there's something here. He got
her attention. He found, this is what he's finding
out. He's finding out, is this the
one? Will she listen? Will she give me a hearing? Will
she respond? Is she one of God's own? So he
starts out just like the Lord Jesus did, give me a drink of
water. And evidently, she's the one. Evidently, she'll hear him. Evidently,
she'll give him an audience because it says, listen, verse 11, and
as she was going to fetch it, she responded. She heard him. And as she was going to fetch
it, he called out, Ã¬Ann! Bring me, I pray you, some bread.Ã® Then you know the message starts
with need. Need has got to be established.
This prophet got her attention, and then he presented the need. The Lord Jesus started talking
to the woman about the water. And then he said, call your husband. She said, I have no husband.
Now watch this woman here. And as she was going, he said,
bring me a morsel of bread, verse 12, and she said, she stopped
and turned around and she said, as the Lord thy God liveth, I
don't have any bread. I don't have any. Call your husband. I don't have one. Bring me some
bread. I don't have any bread. You see
the need. This is where the message starts.
This is where you find somebody with a need. You find somebody with a need.
This is so important. You've got to establish inability. You've got to establish helplessness.
You've got to establish sin. You've got to establish need
before the promise is set forth. God doesn't make promises to
people who have no need. She set forth her condition here
in verse 12. Listen to her. This is the shape
she's in. And she said, As the Lord thy
God liveth, I don't have any cake. All I have is a handful
of meal and a barrel. All I have is a little oil and
a cruise. And behold, I'm gathering two sticks, and I may go in and
dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die." We don't
have anything. We are hopeless and helpless,
and we're going to die. We don't have anything. Boy,
I tell you, that's when God shows mercy and grace to a sinner,
when he doesn't have anything. Old Arthur Pink, in his commentary,
talking about the blessed of the poor in spirit, theirs is
the kingdom of heaven, he said, what is the poor in spirit? It's
people who have nothing, know nothing, and can do nothing.
That's poverty. And this prophet, oh, there's
some good news. God said, I've chosen this woman.
She's one of mine. You go to her. But this wise
prophet is establishing a need. He's laying a foundation. He's
dealing with her where she has to be dealt with first. She's
got to admit. She's got to confess. She's got
to face her own inability. If she's going to lean on God,
she's got to realize that God's the only one who can help her.
You understand what I'm saying? All right, now the promise. Here
comes the promise. All right, look. And Elijah said
to her, Fear not. Fear not. That's what the angel
said to the shepherds. Don't be afraid. We bring you
good tidings. You go and do as thou hast said. Light your fire, make your cake.
But make me thou of a little cake first, and bring it to me. And after, make for thee and
for thy son. Make me a cake first. Seek ye
first the kingdom of God. Show faith. Believe me. Believe me. Now, if he had filled
that barrel with meal and filled that cruise with oil, there wouldn't
have been any faith, would there? There wouldn't have been any
believing. But he said first, You take everything you've got,
all your meal and all your oil, and make a cake and bring it
to me. The prophet of God, bring it to me. And that's what you're showing
your faith in God. You're believing. Now, listen
to this. This is not fatalism. This is
not fatalism, this is faith, what the prophet did. Now listen
carefully, the prophet didn't command her to make him a cake
first without a promise. He said, for, now watch this,
you make this cake and bring it to me first. For, thus saith
the Lord God of Israel, here's a promise based on his word,
the barrel of oil shall not waste. and the barrel of meal shall
not waste, and the cruise of oil shall not fail till the day
the Lord sends rain on this earth." In other words, he's commanding
her to show faith and believe God based on his word, based
on his promise. He didn't just tell her, you
make, keep this promise to yourself, say, you make a cake and bring
it to me. No, you make a cake and bring it to me because, far,
God has made this promise. If you do that, that barrel will
never be empty and that oil will never cease until this family
is done. And this woman acting on that
promise, see, this is not a shot in the dark. This is not try
Jesus. This is believe Christ because
the promise is there. That's what God said to Abraham.
He said, Abraham, I'm going to give you a son. And Abraham believed
that God could do what he said. And therefore, he acted on faith. Therefore, he left his land.
Therefore, he depended on God to send that heir. You see, our
faith is based on believing the Word of God. This woman, when
Elijah said to her, make me a cake first, because God said, I'll always
meet your needs. If I'm first, I'll always fulfill
your needs. That's what faith, based on His
promise. Is that clear what I'm saying?
Faith is based on the promise. Faith is not a shot in the dark.
It's believing the Word of God. God said it. I believe it. Alright,
look at the response. Verse 15. And she went and did according
to the saying of Elijah. And she and he and her house
did eat, for a full year. And the barrel of meal wasted
not, neither did the crucible fail, according to the word of
God, which he spake to Elijah. The woman heard the word, and
she believed the word. And the evidence of her faith
was her obedience. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 2. Let me show you a scripture here. 2 Timothy chapter 2. Verse, begin with verse 8. Now this is faith. This is the
story of this woman here. 2 Timothy 2 verse 8, Be not thou
therefore ashamed of the gospel of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner,
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us. He called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to His own
purpose and grace given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. But it is now made manifest by
the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death
and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of
the Gentiles. For which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless,
I am not ashamed. I know whom I have believed.
And I'm persuaded he's able. Here's faith. I know whom I have
believed. Elijah said to her, the Lord
has said this. I know who the Lord is. And I'm
persuaded he's able to keep. He's able to keep his word. He's
able to keep his promise. He's able to fulfill his word.
I believe that. Now watch this. That which I've
committed to him. Now, here's the act. Commitment. The woman did what he said. She went and did what he said.
She baked the cake and brought it to him. She believed. And that cruise of oil never
ceased, and that barrel of meal never stopped. And this is, God did the work
in her heart. He told Elijah that before he
ever seen him down there. But the work had to be done,
had to be fulfilled. See, we're not, it's not fatalism,
it's faith. God made her His own. Sent His
prophet to her. Took the message. She heard.
She acted in faith. She believed. Something's been
going on on television now for several days. This skating incident about this girl,
Tonya Harding, and the other girl, Nancy Kerrigan, and everybody's
been watching it, listening to it. becoming involved in some
way in it, but there was one thing shown on the television
screen that really caught my attention and gave me an illustration. It's a sad picture, but they
play it quite frequently, and that's when this skater, this
Kerrigan, Kerrigan, is that her name? was struck on the knee
by that fellow with the baton, and she fell. And the camera
was on her right after that. She's sitting there on the floor,
and she's weeping. She sees her dreams shattered.
She sees her opportunity to go to the Olympics gone. She sees
her everything gone. And she sits there as tears stream
down her face, and people around her, and she says two words.
Remember? Why me? Why me? I understand. I understand perfectly. I really do. I understand how
she felt. Why is this happening to me?
Me? I mean, there's 200 million people
in America. Why me? There's skaters all over
the world. Why me? And I know some of you, when
you've gone through deepest trial, and the darkest valley, and walk
the roughest road, and the greatest heartache. I know in spite of,
yes, you believe God, and you know all things work together
for good to them who love God, but I know you ask these questions
of, why me? Why me? Why has God singled me
out for adversity? Why has God singled me out for
trial and trouble? Why are there 200 million people
in this world? Why me? going through this sorrow
and heartache. Do you ever think those things?
Sure you do. Why? But I'll tell you one thing I
thought about when I saw that. There are 200 million people
in this country, but God has chosen to save you. Christ said there were many widows.
There were many widows in Israel, and to none of them, And to none
of them did he send his prophet but to this particular woman.
And there she is in her rags and out gathering sticks, poverty,
inability. She's got nothing, knows nothing,
has nothing. And here comes God's servant
with God's gospel and says, The Lord our God hath chosen you
that you should hear his word and see the just one and be saved
and have eternal life. Now bake me a cake and believe
God. I spent that night when she went
to bed and all that oil in there and that barrel full of meal
and my stomach was so full she probably couldn't sleep and her
son over there full the presence of God in the house, and she
looked up and tears streamed down her face, and she said,
Lord, why me? Why me? Why me? David said that one time. He went in and sat before the
Lord, and he said, Lord, who am I? So when you're thinking
about our troubles and trials and sorrows and heartaches, and
feel like we've been singled out for adversity, remember,
and you say, why me? Remember, we've been singled
out for blessings. Unlimited, untold, unexplained
blessings. And let's say, why me? Why me? Why me? I think I'll just call
this message, why me? Why me? I'm like that little
old widow down there, picking up sticks. God commanded me to
hear the Gospel, and I heard it. Maybe I ought to have that
song again, Why Should He Love Me So. All right, let's turn
to 110. 110. Alas, and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head
for such a worm as I? Number 110.

Why Me?

What does the Bible say about God's provision in times of need?

How do we know that God has an elect people?

Why is faith important in the Christian life?

What can we learn from the story of the widow of Zarephath?

Why did Elijah go to the widow instead of other people?

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Why Me?

What does the Bible say about God's provision in times of need?

How do we know that God has an elect people?

Why is faith important in the Christian life?

What can we learn from the story of the widow of Zarephath?

Why did Elijah go to the widow instead of other people?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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