Where do we look for the source of our life?

Dramatic changes in our situation, a tragedy, an illness or accident are often the times when we awaken from the busy-ness of life to ask the deeper questions. What is the source of our fulfilment? What does our happiness depend on? How are we sustained when our usual resources are no longer available? On a more elementary level, the question is, ‘where is the source of our life’? Often when our circumstances take a turn for the worse, we may wonder if we have done something wrong. Is God punishing us? In the ancient world, most misfortunes were attributed to the displeasure of the gods for some misdeed or other, so the pagan woman’s inference that her son’s death was punishment for her sin is an understandable one (1 Kings 17:18).

What leads to transformation?

Once again, the woman faces a choice. Will she surrender her son to the prophet and, by implication, to the Lord or turn her back on the God who seemingly held out life to her only to administer death? Can such a God be trusted to do anything for her? What a bitter blow in a placidly flowing existence where the daily miracle of divine sustenance (1 Kings 17:16) must have become almost commonplace! Yet, the woman allows the prophet to take her son (1 Kings 17:19). Elijah’s prayer reveals his heart as he asks God if He is now also bringing disaster on this widow (1 Kings 17:20). It suggests his compassion for the woman and for Israel who suffer famine and possibly death. And if the prophet feels for them, would not God? Yet, these dire circumstances are necessary for their awakening. Israel needs to acknowledge where their true sustenance lies: not with Baal but with God. Although the woman so far acted as Elijah instructed, she has not made any statement as to where she really stands either. In her transformation, we see a glimpse of what needs to happen for Israel.

The God who gives life

The prophet prays that the child’s life might return, and God indeed gives life (1 Kings 17:21-22). Although the woman has seen God’s provision before and acted in trust, it is only now that she acknowledges Elijah’s authority and that he truly speaks God’s Word (1 Kings 17:24). What has changed her? She came to see that God can not only sustain existing life but bring life out of the dead. Sometimes we must experience significant loss before the truth of God’s provision sinks in. This is the painful preparation that Israel undergoes before the showdown between Baal priests and Israel’s God will take place (1 Kings 18:19-24). For the exiles who experienced a form of death in exile (cf. Ezek 37:11-14), it would have been an encouragement to know that God could reverse death and give life where there was none! Moreover, the events around the widow took place in Sidon (1 Kings 17:8), outside the land of Israel. The ancient Near East saw gods as territorial (i.e. operating only within their land), but Israel gradually came to recognise that their God was not bound by geography but was sovereign in and outside Israel!

Nailing our colours to the mast

When life goes well, we may operate on autopilot, perhaps even incorporate Christian principles into our lives or function in a mixed mode, where our Christian convictions jostle against practices absorbed from the culture around us. While major shakeups can force us to reconsider our lives, we need not wait for such to examine where our allegiances lie. Where do we look for our fulfilment, for the abundance we crave in life? There are endless options in this world all holding out the promise of something better in life, of meaning, satisfaction and happiness. Whether what appeals are unusual experiences, achievements, the respect or appreciation of others, the comforts of a worry-free life, these will never entirely quench our thirst for more. Only as we come to believe that our longings are satisfied in the Lord that we will nail our colours to the mast in allegiance to Him who is not only the giver of physical life, but life lived to the full (John 10:10).

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