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Thriving in a Crisis

“Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you” (1 Kings 17:9).

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Once upon a time there was a man in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport waiting on a flight to Chicago. With time on his hands, he decided to weigh himself on one of those newfangled scales you see in airport and truck stop restrooms. After depositing a quarter in the slot, he received the following information card. Your name is Sam Smith, you are 5 feet, 11 ½ inches tall, weigh 182 pounds, and are booked on the 5:00 American Airlines flight to Chicago O’Hare. Stunned, he tried it again, with the same result. He kept depositing quarters, each time receiving the same message. He was so intrigued by this time that he decided he would try to fool the machine. He went into the restroom, changed clothes, and put on a disguise. Depositing his last quarter, he received a card with these words: Your name is still Sam Smith, you are 5 feet, 11 ½ inches tall, you still weigh 182 pounds and you just missed your 5:00 flight to Chicago. Moving ahead in the account of the life of Elijah, we discover that he faced a crisis far worse than a missed flight. Due to a lack of rain, the water supply dried up. The ravens that had supplied bread and meat disappeared, leaving him hungry and thirsty.

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