“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.”

our story takes place in Israel, around 850 bc. It was a sad and difficult time for a nation that was suffering under the worst king it had ever had, Ahab. Ahab was greatly influenced by his wicked wife, Jezebel, and had adopted her religion of Baalism, the worship of the pagan devil-god, Baal. Under Ahab and Jezebel’s rule, the prophets of the true God were systematically slaughtered and Baalism became the official state religion.
To show His displeasure, God sent His prophet Elijah to King Ahab with an ominous message: “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”
After delivering this warning, Elijah fled deep into the wilderness where he hid from Ahab’s soldiers. The Lord directed him to an isolated canyon, where there was a small stream for him to drink from. God also commanded ravens to bring pieces of bread and meat to Elijah every day.
And just as Elijah had prophesied, not a drop of rain fell. A severe drought began to grip the land. As the sweltering months slowly passed, the scorching sun took its toll on the parched earth of Israel. Crops failed, water supplies dried up, and severe famine set in. Eventually Elijah’s own water source, the Brook Cherith, also dried up completely. But God is faithful, and on the very day that the brook ran dry, He told Elijah, “Arise, go to Zarephath, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
Zarephath was over 100 miles north of the Brook Cherith, and Elijah had to make this dangerous journey by foot. After days of trudging through desert wastes, over rocky hillsides and steep mountain trails, he finally arrived at Zarephath, a coastal city of what is now Lebanon. Weary, hot, and caked in dust, as he approached the city gate he spotted a woman gathering sticks. “Water!” he cried out to her. “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink!”
Taking pity on the weary stranger, the woman rose to bring him some water when he called out to her again, “And please, could you bring me something to eat also!”
Turning to him, she exclaimed, “As the Lord lives, I don’t even have a piece of bread, but only a handful of flour in a jar and a few drops of oil in a jug! Look, I’m out here gathering a few twigs to cook with, to take home and make a final meal for myself and my son, that we may eat and then die.”
Elijah realized that this poor little woman was the widow that God had promised would feed and care for him, and he boldly told her, “Do not fear. Go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.” He then prophesied, “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.’”
How absolutely amazed this woman must have been at this extraordinary proclamation! She must have thought, I told him how poor I am and how I’m gathering firewood to cook a final tiny meal for my son and myself, and that afterwards we expect to starve to death—yet he’s asking me to bake a piece of bread for him first!
But because Elijah spoke to her with such authority in the name of the Lord, she knew that he was a man of God, a prophet, and she believed him. She decided to trust God and to do as Elijah had instructed her. She hurried home and scraped together the last tiny handful of flour from the bottom of the large clay jar that it was kept in. Then she took her oil jug, tipped it, and drained out the last few drops of oil.
It was probably after she had mixed the flour and oil together into dough and put it in her clay oven to bake for Elijah that she received the surprise of her life. Picture this lowly little widow tidying things up while the bread-cake for Elijah was baking. As she goes to put the empty oil jug in its place, she notices that it’s much heavier than it was a moment ago. Barely tipping it, she can hardly believe her eyes when fresh oil flows out. It’s full!
Setting the jug down, she rushes over to the bin where she kept her flour and gasps aloud in astonishment when she lifts its lid. Instead of the empty, dusty jar she knows it was just a few minutes earlier, it is now filled to the brim with fresh flour. A miracle has taken place! Her heart overflows with thankfulness to the Lord for such a wonderful manifestation of His blessing. And just as Elijah had prophesied, the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry for the duration of the famine.
This poor little widow had been out trying to save her son and herself for a few more days, perhaps, when God’s prophet suddenly showed up and told her, “Bake me a little cake first, and then afterwards, one for you and your son.” God was testing her to see if she’d believe and put God and His messenger first. She did, and as a result God mightily blessed her. In the midst of three dreadful years of famine, her supply of flour never ran out and her jug of oil never ran dry. She had given what she could, and God repaid her beyond her wildest expectations!
This is the way God works: He loves to outgive you, and He will never let you outgive Him! He will always give you much more back than you gave to Him. The more you give, the more He will give you back.
David Livingstone, the Scottish physician and explorer who pioneered the wilds of Africa and died spreading the Gospel there, said, “I have never made a sacrifice!” He could never outgive God, even though he gave his life in the end.
What many people don’t seem to understand is that the Lord’s finances work the opposite way of the world’s. Most people think, When I’ve got my millions, when I’m rich, then maybe I’ll start giving to others and helping the poor and supporting the Lord’s work. But the Lord says, “Start giving what you’ve got now, and then I’ll give you more.” God’s way to plenty is to give it away! His Word says, “There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty” (Proverbs 11:24).
So even if you don’t have much, God will bless you if you will give to Him. And one of the ways to give to God is to be good to His workers, to do what you can to help those who are spreading His love and helping others.
The apostle Paul wrote to a group of believers whom he had personally led to the Lord, “If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the Gospel should live from the Gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:11,14).
This is how God intends to provide for His workers, as well as to bless those who help make their work possible. Jesus promised, “Whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42), and, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40).

God will always give you back much more than you gave to Him.

So even if you are unable to devote much of your time to sharing God’s love and truth with others or to caring for those in need, you can still be a very helpful and necessary part of the Lord’s work by giving what you can to help those who are doing the job. And you will be blessed in the process. “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38). n