Today we look at Scene 3 in this interesting chapter. Elijah is residing in the home of the widow to whom God sent him. Houses in that region traditionally had flat roofs. Often there was an extra room built on the roof and Elijah was staying in that extra room.
Tragedy strikes. Death enters the home. The woman's son gets sick and dies. Don't miss her immediate response. She does what so many of us do when tragedy strikes. She jumps to the conclusion that she is responsible for his death. It is somehow connected to her sin. It is a thought still prevalent in our world. In the musical, "The Sound of Music", one of the songs that Maria sings when she experiences the love of the Captain includes the words: "Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good." There it is - the thought that the good and the bad that one experiences is a direct result of the one! The SELF is the cause of all. And we attempt to draw a straight line between a tragedy and a particular sin ... or a blessing and a particular behavior. It is not necessarily so. Yes, there are consequences of sin and we have both witnessed and experienced that fact. But be careful before you attempt to draw straight lines. I have heard some horrific comments attempting to draw straight lines in relationship to things like where hurricanes hit, terrorist attacks, earthquakes. Jesus warned us about that kind of thinking.
"The rabbis of Jesus' day had developed the principle that there is no suffering without sin. They were even capable of thinking that a child could sin in the womb or that its soul might have sinned in a preexistent state. They also held that terrible punishments came on certain people because of the sin of their parents. " (NIV Study Bible) Jesus plainly contradicts these beliefs ...
Read John 9: 1 - 5
Back to Elijah's story. This widow was not responsible for the death of her son. She was allowed, however, to witness the glory and wonder of God. And, I believe, it transformed her life and her "world-view". I believe, for her, Baal was now history. When Elijah returned the boy to her arms, she spoke her "testimony":
Now I KNOW that you are a man of God
and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.
Did she not believe this before? Well - she did - but. Now she KNOWS! It is plain. It is sight.
My friends, there is a day coming when our faith, our knowing, will be sight. It will be KNOWING! I am confident of that fact. Our task? Walk in faith - even if that faith may feel a bit shaky sometimes. Echo the words of that father who took his demon-possessed boy to Jesus for healing. You find the story in Mark 9: 14 - 29. Jesus asked this father: "Do you believe? And his answer has been my own on so many occasions. The father passionately replied ...
"I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
An honest prayer ... I do believe ... help me!
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