1 Kings 17:17-24 (NRSV)
Read 1 Kings 17:17-24 on biblegateway.com
Verse 17After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. Verse 18She then said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!" Verse 19But he said to her, "Give me your son." He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. Verse 20He cried out to the Lord, "O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?" Verse 21Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the Lord, "O Lord my God, let this child's life come into him again." Verse 22The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. Verse 23Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, "See, your son is alive." Verse 24So the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth."
Devotion
Expectations guide so much of our daily lives and our ministries. The widow of this story expected that the death of her son was the result of her sin. As problematic as this may sound to us, it was a common way of thinking at the time. And she expected that the presence of Elijah, as a man of God, was a sign of God’s judgment upon her. And yet, after Elijah’s pleading for the boy, our death-to-life God gives new breath to the child. God defies her expectations and surprises her with new life and faith. Isn’t that what resurrection is about?
Today, may we bring a word of comfort and hope to those places and circumstances where we only see death in our lives and in our church. And may we expect that our death-to-life God bring new life to us and our congregations as this resurrected one works through the men, women and children of God in the world.
Prayer
Lord, may all these things - and whatever else you know that this world needs - be so. Amen.