Sometimes it’s hard to know what to focus on first.
Over the coarse of three months, many changes have come to our home. The biggest changes came when my oldest son, Jon Groves 2, graduated from high school, turned eighteen, and decided to leave home to travel with his father. The next change came when my second born, Kaycee, turned sixteen and spent her first summer away from home, working at Camp Victory in Somerset, Kentucky. This had been her dream since she was a little girl, and she had a great summer! That left me at home with my two youngest children, Laurisa (who just turned fifteen) and James (who is thirteen “and a half.”) This all began in
May, and now it is August. Looking back, it seems like it all happened so fast! It is just a blur. And now, school has started, again. Having four teenagers that need to be fed and clothed, physically and spiritually, can be a little overwhelming at times. Sometimes it is hard to know what to focus on first.
While reading, I Kings 17:8-24, I came to realize that I can COMPLETELY RELATE to this mom, better known as, the widow of Zarephath. For a moment, she lost her focus. When you’re a wife, your focus is (and should be) on your husband. When you become a mother, your focus should still be first on your husband, but you add another human being to your life, and they are helpless without you. Your heart becomes entangled with this little person, and you fall “head over heels” in love. As the parent, you become their soul provider and protector. Eventually, you may find yourself trying to remember what or whom to focus on first.
This mother, however, is widowed. Whatever your status is, whether single, married, divorced, widowed, or perhaps deserted, there is still one main factor….. There are children and they MUST be cared for. (To whom it may concern: I am aware that God should be first in our lives, and I am NOT discounting that, I am just trying to stay “focused” on the story at hand.) With new life, comes new responsibility. Your child and/or children have physical, financial, spiritual, and emotional needs, that can only be supplied by you, the parent.
The Scripture tells us (I Kings 17:9) that God had already “commanded a widow woman” to sustain the needs of Elijah. This is God’s man, and he has been dwelling at the brook Cherith for some time now. The brook has since dried up and God has told him to get to Zarephath, with the promise that he will be “sustained.” When Elijah calls to her, asking for a drink of water, she immediately turns to go fetch it for him. I might even say she was happy to do it. BUT, “as she was going to fetch it,” he asked her for a morsel of bread. While picturing this in my head, I can almost see her stop dead, in her tracks. She cringes. She slowly turns to face him. Immediately she begins to explain why she cannot possibly offer him food. I mean, after all, there’s been a famine in the land, and all she has is just enough for herself, and her son, and then they’re gonna die because it’s all she has!!! (As women we tend to have a flair for the dramatic.) Then, the preacher asks her not to fear (v.13), and to sustain him FIRST. Now, I would neither “add nor subtract” from the Word of God, but I CAN “think” like a mom. ☺ Here’s what most moms would’ve thought: “WHAT?!?!?! Give to the preacher BEFORE I give to my CHILD? I mean, my baby is helpless and starving. Doesn’t the preacher know we have fallen on hard times? There’s been a famine for heaven’s sake! Seriously? He wants me to feed him before I feed my own flesh and blood? Really? He’s an adult! He can live without a meal but my baby might die!”
Most people do not mind sharing of their abundance, to meet the needs of others. However, when the hard times come, we tend to forget faith and live with an “every man for himself” kind of attitude. We can’t decide what to focus on first. And as far as the preacher goes, well he can just go get ANOTHER job to fend for his own. I grew up in a preacher’s home, married into a preacher’s family, and still serve the Lord faithfully with my pastor & his wife. The ministry, like any job, can be hard sometimes. A few years ago, I was home visiting my parents, who are in the ministry too. I heard a man say to my daddy, “you just need more faith preacher. Where’s your faith?” While I realize we are to “be angry and sin not,” this got my ire up. I had seen my parents live on faith my entire life. I saw them sacrifice ALL they had for the cause of Christ. My parents would give their last dime to a person in need, knowing that they had three kids that needed fed and clothed. I watched God supply our needs. I know He is still capable of that, but this individual was way out of line. I stepped up and said, “You talk to me about faith when whether or not your kids eat or your bills are paid, depends solely upon whether or not I tithe! THEN, you talk to me about faith!” My Daddy, God love him, stepped in though, and told this man he would pray harder for him and the church. My dad did that, and God blessed like He always does. That is why individuals STILL call on him today to pray for them because they know he can pray the heaven’s down. (ok, I might love him some.) ☺
What am I trying to say here?
Even though times are hard, and we become fearful and faithless we still need to focus on God. Had this widow woman not done what the Lord had commanded her to do, she would have missed out on a huge blessing. She was commanded to care for God’s man FIRST. When she sacrificed all she had for the cause of Christ, for the taking care of God’s man, the Lord made sure that her EVERY need was supplied.
1. She gave him water to squelch his thirst. (John 4:14)
2. She gave him bread to satisfy his hunger. (John 6:35)
3. God supplied all her needs (and her son’s needs too.) (Phil. 4:19)
Sometimes, it’s hard to know what to focus on FIRST. We need to be careful that the daily pressures of this life do not blur our focus. The physical, emotional, and especially financial needs of this world can weigh heavy on our hearts and minds each day. We get so focused on those that we forget about the spiritual needs of life. But ultimately, if keep our focus on Christ, and follow His commands first, He will supply all our needs. Let’s keep our eyes focused on the prize, … JESUS.
