By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo
In the Book of Kings, we read the story of Elijah who was told by God to leave his place because it was experiencing a season of drought. God was helping Elijah solve his problem of lack of food and water by sending him to a widow in Zarephath. “Then the word of the Lord came to him: ‘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. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’” (1 Kings 17:10-16)
The drought in Israel at the time of Elijah symbolizes the drying up of a soul when it separates itself from God through sin. Ahab the king of Israel at that time, was an evil king committing all sorts of wicked things during his reign and God sent a drought to punish the king and the people under him. Elijah could have doubted God to solve his predicament for sending him of all people to a widow. A widow in the Old Testament was in the lowest of class in the hierarchy of social and financial status. In fact, in the reading above the widow and his son were down to their last meal and would later on die of hunger as thought by the widow because there is just no food left anymore for them. She told Elijah of her dire situation but nevertheless Elijah replied to her not to be afraid because the Lord God had told him that your food will not run out until rain comes back after the long drought. Elijah’s obedience and trust in God’s providence caused the miracle of continuous supply of food to happen.
How about us, how is our faith in the Lord? Faith means to trust, to believe and to obey. It is one of the theological virtues along with hope and love. Faith comes first before hope and love. We can’t hope to reach heaven or to love God above all things unless we have faith in God first. Faith as St. Thomas Aquinas would define it, is the door to the spiritual life. Faith is the first step in our relationship with God.
What are the usual instances in life when we lack trust in God? It’s when we worry too much over our problems. Nowadays the common word for worry is stress. Stress or worry means we rely too much on ourselves and we forget God’s help. St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta would say, “If you are worried it’s because you rely too much on yourself”, which could either mean we lack trust in God’s help or we don’t go to God to ask for help or we don’t persevere in asking God for help. St. Ignatius de Loyola’s formula for solving a problem is to work hard as if everything relies on us and to pray hard as if everything relies on God. Both working and praying for our problem should be carried out. Often times the problem with us in praying to God for a solution to our problem is we want it to be solved right away. Part of the package of praying is to persevere in prayer as illustrated to us in Chapter 18 of St. Luke’s Gospel of the Parable of the Persistent Widow. “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:7) God sometimes “delays” in solving our problem because He wants us to grow in our life of prayer through perseverance and to grow in our trust of Him.
