Now I know that the Word is Truth
(1Kgs 17:8ampsim24)
We need to be called truthful by people in order to boast of the Lord we serve. Yet being truthful is beyond our ability. Truth is the term that refers to the nature of the Word. Lets see how we can hear people saying to us 'Now I know that the Word is truth.'
1. Obey the Word daily. After hearing the Word, Elijah asked a widow in Zarephath for water and bread. And the widow did as Elijah asked her. The only way of truth is the Word. It is not doing as we see fit. The man who walks with the Word sees the Word fulfilled under all circumstances. Elijah went to the Kerith Ravine as God told him and eventually suffered from the drought God brought to Israel. Nevertheless, he obeyed the Word every day, thinking This must happen. Only God knows! And later looking back, he discovered that God had prepared the best way and circumstances for him. Since Ahab didnt repent despite Gods warning, Elijah was called by God to live out the message that he had preached as a model repentance and temperance. For this, he had to be recognized by the widow of Zarephath ignored by everyone.
2. Produce your spiritual heirs. God sent Elijah to Sidon, the base camp of Baal worshipers. Sidon was a Mecca for Baal, the god of fertility, where the citizens were poor unlike the royal family. Elijah needed to pass Gods required course of being fed by ravens and the widow of Zarephath before waging his war against the 850 prophets of Baal and of Asherah. Elijah was protected by God while staying in a poor widows house. Actually God prepared Elijah for the war on Mount Carmel while tending him as the apple of his eye. We Christians live in order to sire our spiritual heirs. Theres no special life. Yet we can make our life special through our obedience. Making our applications one by one, we enlarge our territory and mission fields beyond our school background. One of our deaconesses gave her testimony it at our QTM foundation worship service 19 years ago about how she guided her daughter not to abort her baby of premarital pregnancy and then to marriage. Her application of no-abortion and Christian marriage was the way of being truthful. We can reach the truth by walking the way of the Word step by step, keeping its laws through our daily application. Another way to the truth is to create our spiritual heirs by enduring the suffering caused by our physical children. Even though it was dangerous for Elijah to ask the widow for water and bread, he needed to do that in order to discern her. To his request, the widow replied that she had only a handful of meal for herself and her son to eat and die. It was much more miraculous for a widow who didnt know God to help out Elijah than for ravens to help him. Elijah told the widow not to be afraid. We all have many dreadful things to occur in our life. Yet we need to fear the Lord who resolves them all instead of fearing the things themselves. Thats how we get out of the fear in our life. The widows obedience was the mark that she wouldnt serve Baal. She was the one that Elijah found out at last. The mark of a truthful person is finding out another truthful one. By making our values focused on God, we can have the endless flour and oil. If we keep complaining about our circumstances, we cant experience Gods wonders. We can reach the truth by listening to Elijah whom the Word came upon. We can experience Gods salvation by listening to the Word in faith, being ready to carry our cross.
3. Be reminded of your sins. After experiencing Gods miracles (v.16), the widow lost her son (v. 17). Gods selected people often encounter things that they cant understand despite their walk in faith with the Word. The widow was blessed after accepting God as her Lord. But all she knew about him is Elohim, the Almighty God. So God gave her a trial to spiritually upgrade her and let her know more of him, Jehovah, the God of the Covenant. The widow called Elijah a man of God. Yet she blamed him for the death of her son, possessed by her guilty conscience. She thought that the disaster was due to the man of God, who brought Gods excessive attention. Notice her saying that Elijah reminded her of her sins after losing her son. Yet she had been silent while she was provided with constant flour and oil. Elijah is the man of the Word. He brought up the widow spiritually while staying with her. Thats why she was reminded of her sins in the midst of her biggest sorrow. Our faith in Jesus brings us the blessing of enjoying our endless oil. Yet true blessing is to see our sins. Unfortunately, we cant see our sins without going through a critical situation. When we face it, however, we blame others instead of seeing our sins, which drives us into a hellish situation. Truly Gods people see their hidden sins in the midst of their trials. As for issues like death, which we cant control, we need to simply accept it and lay it down before God. As the widow couldnt do this, Elijah took her son in his arms and laid him down before the Lord. We also need to embrace others suffering or sickness as our own. Towards our sins, we need to be strict, yet to others suffering, we should be ready to embrace it. Thats the way to revive them. At his wits end, Elijah pleaded with God for the widows son, praying desperately that the incident wouldnt end up as a mere incidence of death. He laid the body on his bed and stretched himself out on it, covering it with his warmth. Likewise, we need to take the trouble to move others from death to life. Hearing Elijahs prayer, God responded to it. Finally, Elijah was recognized by the widow of Zarephath for reviving her son. May God bless us to make others say 'Now I know that the Word is truth' by demonstrating that God is 100% right and that theres no why in our faith!
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.' (1Kgs 17:24)
