Author: Dwight Clough

Now the dwelling of God is with men … — Revelation 21:3We think of heaven as a destination – you die and go to heaven. We think of it as a place or a location – streets of gold, the celestial city. We think of it as relief from all our troubles – no more sickness, no more grief, sadness, suffering or pain.All of these things are true, of course. But at its essence heaven is the presence of God. This is one reason why the unrighteous are not permitted in heaven; they wouldn’t like it. They could not bear…

Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth." — 1 Kings 17:24The word I want you to notice in this passage is the word "Now." When this widow gave part of her last meal to Elijah, all the food she needed was given back to her. When her son died, she gave him to the prophet Elijah. Again, by giving away, she gained back. Her son was raised to life.There are some things that we cannot learn in the…

Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, "What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?" — 1 Kings 17:17-18There’s nothing like a disaster to reveal our real belief system. Here was hers: God could not truly forgive. The sin she had been trying to minimize or forget was making God more and more angry. God had already taken her husband away. Now He was back. He…

Elijah said to her, "Don’t be afraid." — 1 Kings 17:13I like reading books on World War II. In a great war there are many fronts, and battles take place in many arenas. In WWII, some were assigned to breaking codes, others to bombing bridges, others to storming beaches, others to getting civilians into bomb shelters, and so on.In the war between good and evil, there are many fronts. The battle is played out in many ways. Truth vs. lies. Kindness vs. cruelty. Humility vs. pride. And so on. But one of the most important battle lines in this whole…

But first make a small cake of bread for me. — 1 Kings 17:13Elijah asked the destitute widow to feed him first. He had heard her belief system: "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." And now he flatly contradicted it.Her perception: We are about to die. The truth: You are about to live.Her perception: We have nothing. The truth: You have abundance.Elijah didn’t stand around arguing with her about her mixed up perceptions. Instead, he invited her to experience the…

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. — 1 Kings 17:12Notice how God builds faith in us. He starts by bringing us to the end of our own resources. That’s how we learn the difference between us and Him. When we know that we have nothing, then we know that whatever is given us comes from God.When all hope dies and we cannot see any way out, then God shows us a way. He shows us a door that we didn’t…

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. — 1 Kings 17:15Faith comes in many different colors and styles. But one of the most powerful forms of faith is doing what God tells you to do, even when it doesn’t make any sense.It didn’t make sense for this widow to give most of her last meal to a traveling prophet, but she did it anyway. It didn’t make sense for the widow in Jesus’ day to give to the temple everything she had to live on. But she did it anyway. Jesus said that the gate to eternal…

Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food. — 1 Kings 17:9Isn’t something backwards here? A Gentile widow is providing for an Israelite man. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?And why would God command a widow to supply someone’s needs? Widows, at least in Bible times, were often destitute … they had nothing. In a couple of verses we find out that this particular widow was just that … destitute. She, herself, was on the brink of starvation.God was asking … no, He was…

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. — 1 Kings 17:7What do you do when the brook dries up? God’s blessings have ended, His protection is gone, all is bleak … or so it seems.This is what writers call the end of a chapter. It’s a cliffhanger. The hero was trying to solve a problem and got himself into bigger trouble instead. Trouble has escalated … now things aren’t just difficult, they’re impossible.I don’t know what Elijah was doing. Except I do know this: He was listening. Sometimes life pushes us…

So [Elijah] did what the Lord told him. — 1 Kings 17:5Did you ever watch ants? The ants around here have a distinctive way of walking. (I don’t know if this is true worldwide — maybe our readers on other continents can let me know.) But, around here, ants take a few steps and then they stop. I pointed this out to my children. I explained to them, "This is how you live the Christian life. God gives you direction, you follow it as far as you can, and then you get more direction. And He usually only gives you…