"Elijah left and went to Zarephath. As he came to the town gate, he saw a widow collecting sticks. He called out to her, "Please get a little water for me in this cup so I can drink."" (1 Kings 17:10) "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way." (Psalms 37:23) We are all humans. We are limited in our speech, our perception, our understanding, our action - and in every area of our lives. We look at things they way they are, and not the way they should be. Most of the problems that come our ways are not really problems, but God's divine plan to position us for a divine visitation and encounter. Without a need, there will be no provision..
The woman of Zarephath was an exemplary widow. Even Jesus commended her life and action in one of His sermons. But what happened to this woman is never to be taken lightly. We must not allow the outcome belittle the experience. The lesson of life is in the experience, not the outcome. This woman had a young child, possibly an only child. She was preparing to cook her last meal for her family. She probably sent home all the maids and told them that she could no longer continue to have them. She possibly gave away some of her belonging in preparation for a slow painful death. She had probably prayed to God and made her ways right with God in preparation for her death - she just had one meal to eat, and that would be that. But then, she found out that she had no stick to make fire!
That was what saved her life. As she went out to the town gate to collect sticks, there she met the prophet; there she encountered her divine visitation. Good will use the negative things in your life to position you for a divine visitation. The problems you are facing today are about to be turned into catalysts for your divine encounter. Just like Joseph, every plan being made to sell you into slavery shall turn into a plan to crown you king. God will visit you this month, and nothing can stop it.
I imagined that when this woman found out she had no sticks to make fire, she could have felt very bad. Who knows she may have had sticks, but perhaps on getting up to use them, she found they were unusable or just gone. She could have yielded to the temptation to just stay there and complain; but instead she choose to go out and get another stick; and there she met God! Let your spiritual eyes to be opened throughout this month to see the hidden hand of God in every situation you find yourself. That is how God will position you for a divine visitation. Amen