Read 1 Kings 17:17-24.
God is providing food each day for this widow woman, her son and the prophet Elijah through this terrible drought. But then another disaster happens. The boy gets sick and dies.
She goes to Elijah who in turn goes to God. God hears Elijah's prayer and brings him back to life.
This is the part of the whole widow story I puzzled over. What is the purpose of it? What can we learn? What was the point of her child dying when God had miraculously provided food so he wouldn't starve?
Sometimes we can't make sense of things that happen in our lives. We can't see the whole picture.
But look how the story finishes.
"And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the Word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth."
What good came of this? Her faith was strengthened. Now she knew from experience that what God says is true. If her son had never died, she wouldn't have had the joy of seeing God work in an amazing way.
There are things that have happened in my life that I have also puzzled over. What is the point of this? How can any good come out of this? Why, Lord?
But because I have gone to God in my troubles, I have experienced the truth of God's Word in the Bible through the difficult situation. I can also say, "Now by this I know that God's Word is true."
A few months ago, my husband and I went through a very stressful time. It's a long story, but we needed a very large amount of money. At the last minute God provided every last cent in an amazing way. To see God provide in such an amazing way, we had to go through a stressful time.
But our faith was strengthened and our view of God became bigger. It was not a pointless experience.
For God to truly be real to us and for us to have a strong faith in Him, we need to go through difficult times. Through them we will see the truth of God's precious promises.
Any experience that brings us into a closer relationship with God, is worth going through.
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