Luke 4:24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land.26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy[g] in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” (The Message)
This is our second week looking at Luke 4 in our Youth Sunday Discussion group. Last week, we studied the words of Jesus as he announced in his hometown of Galilee that he was the fulfillment of ancient prophecies.
This week we looked at Jesus’ words to his hometown neighbors after his reading at the synagogue. A portion of those verses is above. Jesus is making it clear that God’s work of grace and redemption is available to all, not just a select few. He was recounting times in Hebrew history when acts of grace were extended far beyond the boundaries of Israel.
The above scriptures raise many questions for me. I’d like to focus on one question and a possible pearl of wisdom from the verses Jesus was quoted as saying.
Elijah was sent to a particular widow during a severe famine. Why that one? Why this widow when all of Israel was suffering? Only God knows the answer to that one!! Sometimes I think we just have to let God be God. Sometimes there aren’t rational answers to our questions. My take-away, though, is that Elijah allowed himself to be led by God. He followed God’s leading to help this particular widow even when he didn’t know the “why”. When we open our eyes to needs around us, we may find ourselves serving in surprising ways! Who can you minister to this week? What might God be leading you to do? Open yourself to the people our Lord has put in your path! Those “chance” opportunities to serve might just be the hand of God.
Blessings to all,
Diana
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