Enough time

Some people need a lot of reassurance about God’s care for them, and I must be one of them. He keeps telling me that He will take care of me.

Today I’m reading 1 Kings 17. It is about a divine drought declared by the prophet Elijah. He says, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”
Growing up on a farm makes me a weather-watcher. My father constantly checked so he knew how to plan his days and weeks. It became a family habit, but not only that, I know what a long, dry spell can do to crops, and ultimately our food chain. City folks love a hot, dry summer, but farmers do not.

God sent Elijah to a remote place where there was a brook for water. The Lord sent ravens to feed him. After a time, the brook dried up. The prophet was not going to escape the effects of this drought, but God had a plan. He sent him to the home of a widow.

The widow was about to use her last handful of flour and bit of oil to make a last meal for herself and her son. Elijah asked her to use it for a meal for him. I can imagine her thoughts. This is all I have. What nerve this man has! I am about to perish in this dry spell and he wants to take my last bit of food. She must have been very fearful.

My drought is not food, but time. This past two weeks have taxed me to the limit. I’m grabbing moments here and there to do a few household essentials, getting up early and staying up late. I feel like my time/energy cupboard is bare, but the demands of the necessities are relentless. Some things are not happening and while most of them can go by the wayside, it bothers me that I cannot complete my normal responsibilities.

God understands. He understood the drought (it was His idea) and the needs of both Elijah and the woman. Verse 14 Elijah explains, “For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘ The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’”

The woman believed the prophet and God. She made the food, fed Elijah first, and “she and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.”
God created flour and oil, but also time. At one point in Old Testament history, He made time stand still, and while this is not the norm, it sometimes seems as if that happens. I’ve had days where so much fits into so little time. How does that happen?

Oh yes, there are days where time seems to whiz by and nothing gets done, but He speaks from these verses, and says to me, “Maintain the priorities I give you, and you will have enough time and energy. Take care of your husband, take care of your household, be here for people, but first, take time for Me. Give Me your heart. Listen to what I say and do it. The clock will not run out; you will have all the time you need to do everything I want you to do.”