Unless we refuel our souls at God’s endless supply of grace we will die.

“And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said… For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’” And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah. (1 Kings 17:12-16)”

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus… (2 Timothy 2:1)”

No human being anywhere has within themselves an inexhaustible supply of strength, joy and blessedness. Just like we have to take food and water from outside ourselves into ourselves, so we need a source of strength, joy and blessedness outside of ourselves to keep going.

Like the widow during the famine in Elijah’s day, when we rely on our stores we will inevitably run out. When there is a famine, we have no choice but to rely on what we have saved up because there is nothing outside of ourselves that can replenish us. This is why we store up things in the first place, because we know that lean times will come when we will have to ‘dig deep’ and rely on our savings.

In the case of the widow, she and her son had depleted their stocks. They were about to make one last meal, eat it, and then let the famine take its course. They were going to die just like countless thousands around them. But God’s word changed everything.

How lucky they were that they got to hear God’s word in the mouth of His prophet Elijah! Elijah comes along and, as God’s mouthpiece, he prophesies that the ‘flour will not be spent and the jug of oil shall not be empty.’ God’s word prescribes reality and true enough, what God says happens. So the widow and her son were saved from the famine.

Notice that even though God suspended the normal course of things, they still had to eat. God didn’t stop them from getting hungry and having to eat – which He could do. This reinforces the universal principle: human beings are never self-sufficient. God created us to be dependent creatures not independent. We do not have life within ourselves, we were granted life and we depend on resources outside of ourselves to live.

An endless supply of oil and flour will not stop us dying eventually. At best it will maintain our physical bodies for nearly a century. The good news is that God has done more since the days of Elijah. God has now provided an endless supply of grace.

In Jesus Christ we have a never-failing stream of kindness, mercy and grace that replenishes our weary souls. When we come to Jesus for strength, for joy, for blessedness, we drink deeply at a fountain that doesn’t end.

The way to be strengthened for life is to keep taking God’s grace into ourselves. Weary, tired, jaded, a little bit cynical, we come again to Jesus Christ and we are refreshed all over again. Now, we can live. Not survive. Flour and oil will make us survive. We want to live, not just survive.