I Kings 17:9-13 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”  “As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “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.”
Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.“

Tension. Tension is what you get when God as asks you to step out of your comfort zone. In this story of Elijah and the widow, God had already told the widow to supply Elijah with food. When the prophet arrives, there isn’t enough left for her and her son to have one final meal before dying of starvation. Still, Elijah asks for a small loaf of bread first, before she provides for her and her son. How far did he think a “handful of flour” could stretch? Was she feeling tension? I’ll bet she was. Because the widow did as God (and Elijah) asked and gave him the food first, the story ends with her jar never running out of flour and her jug never running out of oil. Without the widow’s trust in God, she and her son would simply have starved to death. God wasn’t trying to get something from her, he was trying to get something to her! The same applies today when God asks you to do something that causes you to suddenly suck in a breath and tense up. Step out and meet the need head on – God is waiting on the other side to do what only he can.

Pray: “Heavenly Father, it is never easy to step out of my comfort zone. Still, I understand if I don’t, I will never grow to trust you more and you will be limited as to what you can do in and through my life. Though it causes me to hesitate, I ask Lord you continue to give me the opportunities to grow by calling me to step out. I understand it is not a question of what others may gain, but rather how my obedience can take our relationship to a whole new level. My trust is in you, Father. In the name of my ever-present Lord and brother Jesus I pray – Amen.”