1 Kings 17:6
“The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.”
When I was in college, I applied to a program that allowed participants to spend one year in 12 different countries, serving a different community each month. At this stage in my walk with Christ, I was still silently battling sin. During my interview for the program, I opened up for the first time about my struggles and what happened to me to people who were complete strangers. To my heartbreak, they told me I wasn’t “Christian enough” to join the program—in their eyes, I was too sinful.
I was confused. I didn’t know the Word well in my early 20s, but I knew that the gospel was for the broken. We are all, in some way, messed up and in need of a Savior. Despite the rejection and hurt, I continued in my walk with Christ, abiding in Him. By His grace, He used an unclean raven like me in other ways.
Last week, a few of us gathered to study the story of Elijah and the widow at Zarephath. Before Elijah encountered the widow, God led him one step at a time. He warned King Ahab of the coming famine and drought, then God sent him to the Kerith Ravine to hide. There, Elijah had to rely on the brook for water and on ravens to bring him food, until the brook eventually ran dry.
For context, Elijah was one of the greatest prophets in the Bible, and the Lord used him to confront an evil king and bring revival to the land. The Israelites were confused, struggling with idolatry, and worshiping Baal—a false god of weather and sky. The true worship of God was on the verge of being wiped out. So Elijah prayed for a drought (James 5:17-18), and God sent one that lasted three years and six months—until they turned away from their false worship.
In a time when the Israelites worshiped a god of weather and sky, the widow became a testament to what happens when faith and community come together. Her story also demonstrates how God can use unclean, broken things to further His mission. Before Elijah met the widow, he had to depend entirely on God in a season of drought. God kept the brook flowing (which is a word in itself!), and even used ravens—considered unclean animals—to provide Elijah with food.
Spurgeon said it well:
"Being unclean and still being used by God: But see, too, how possible it is for us to carry bread and meat to God’s servants, and do some good things for his church, and yet be ravens still!”
We meet the widow in verses 7-24. Here are a few of my favorite verses from the text:
v. 12 “As surely as the Lord YOUR (see how she did not believe in God?) God lives, I don’t have any bread - only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it--and die.”
v. 16 “For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.”
Just when we think things are turning around for the widow, her son dies (v. 15).
v. 19 “Give me your son, Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room (love that! Shows the need to take her son to a secret place) where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the Lord, ‘Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?’” Here, Elijah loses faith too! It was up to God now to come through for Elijah and not only revive his faith, but the faith of the widow.
v. 22 “The Lord heard Elijah’s cry and the boy’s life returned to him and he lived.”
v. 24 “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 truth.”
Here’s what we learn from her story:
She was just trying to survive during a difficult time in her country.
She leaned into faith—a faith she didn’t fully understand, since she had worshiped Baal, not the Lord. She gave what little she had, encouraged by Elijah to trust in God even when she didn’t fully grasp what was happening. She confided in his discipleship.
After being faithful, her son fell sick. Imagine her confusion: "What did I do wrong?" As a widow, her son was her only hope for the future. His death wasn’t just tragic because he was her child—it also meant losing her means of provision.
Elijah stood in the gap with her, praying for her son’s healing. In verse 20, we see Elijah crying out to the Lord, asking "Why?"
Elijah himself grew weary over the situation.
Standing in the gap for each other can re-activate our faith. Elijah’s prayer and the widow’s trust in God led to a miracle.
The journey to the widow wouldn’t have happened if the brook had kept flowing and those unclean ravens had continued bringing Elijah food. But God knew that not only did the widow need her faith reactivated—Elijah did too, for the journey ahead.
In the same way, even if you feel like an "unclean raven", God is still using you for a bigger-picture moment.
I firmly believe that my struggles with shame and feelings of unworthiness were strongest just before God revealed the bigger picture to me. Why? Because the enemy doesn’t want us to see that bigger picture—it will reactivate our faith and inspire us to step out in boldness.
Today, I pray this post encourages you to ask God to show you His bigger picture, rather than sitting in despair or shame. He has a beautiful plan for you, sis.
With love,
The Hem Community
