#18 on my list, Put together 30 new Sunday school lessons (#4)

Lesson #4

Topic: Asking God for His help

Scriptures: 1 Kings 17:17-24

Synopsis: This is the account of the widow of Zarephath. The prophet Elijah has just declared to King Ahab that it will not rain. Elijah was fed by the ravens and lived near a small brook, for a time, until the Lord told Elijah to go to Zarephath where there was a woman who would be able to continue to feed him. She did, even though she only had a small amount of meal and oil to feed herself and her son. In fact when Elijah told her to make her the meal, she was preparing to make the last one for them and then they were to die. Well after the meal was made the oil and meal didn't run out, by itself I think this could be a lesson in ho the Lord blesses giving. However, my particular lesson last week was about the second part of the story. Time has passed and the widows son gets sick and ends up dying. The widow gets mad at God, and Elijah has to be the one to take the boy aside and asks the Lord to revive him. The Lord restores the boys health, but it's only at the end of the chapter that the widow praises God for restoring health to her son. Which brings me to what the Lord revealed to me.

What the Lord revealed to me: The Lord takes such good care of the widow, and of us. He sent her a messenger to provide her with a message of hope, he provided food for her when she was in danger of loosing all the food that she had, and he performed a miracle and revived her son from death. However, what struck me about this story is that even in the first part of it, the widow has no sense of gratitude or thankfulness to God for how he has taken care of her. Only when her son is brought back to life does she become thankful to God, and for his provision. That made me think about myself, and us as a society in general. Does God have to take away those things, and people, that mean the most to us in order to get us to express our gratitude toward him? It seems like more and more that may have to be the case, and it really should not be the case when it comes to Christians. We should always have a spirit of thankfulness, even when things look their bleakest I do believe that there is something worth finding to be thankful for. We connot see the end of the things and circumstances that God places in our life, but they are all a means of bringing us closer to him. He should not have to bring us to the ends of ourselves in order to get our attention, nor do I think it is something that he desires to do, but I believe that He will do it if it will bring us closer to him, and get our hearts right so that we can stay in communion with Him.