During the time when King Ahab ruled Israel, the people were very unhappy. King Ahab had turned his back on God and his terrible decisions were hurting those who had trusted him to lead them.
Elijah was a prophet who spoke to God, and one day he went to King Ahab with news. “It will not rain again unless I say it will,” he told the King. “God has shown me this. You should repent of your evil ways and let your people live in peace. Only then will things be easier for you.”
King Ahab was furious, so Elijah went to hide in a place God directed him to find. God sent ravens with meat and bread for Elijah, and dropped it into his waiting hands. The waters of the stream there were pure and cool, and Elijah drank from it when he grew thirsty.
But after many days and no rain, the water in the stream dried up. God told Elijah to go visit a woman in Zarephath, a widow who would give him bread and water. When Elijah arrived, he met the woman there. She was gathering sticks for a fire.
“Would you bring me some water?” he asked, and she kindly agreed. As she went back to her home, Elijah called after her and asked if she could bring bread as well. The woman said she would if she could do so, but there wasn’t enough. She had only a bit of flour and a few drops of oil left, she explained. She would bake the bread and feed her son and herself, and then there would be nothing else, and she would die.
Elijah smiled at her. “Don’t worry,” he said. “There will be more than enough. God will see to it that the bread doesn’t run out and the oil stays full until the day the rains come back. Bake the bread, and bring it here, then go back home and you will see the flour and the oil remains.”
The woman was a believer in God, and she believed His prophet. She baked the bread and brought it for him, and to her delight, there was more flour and oil for another loaf…and then another…and then another! God stayed true to his promise, and the widow was able to feed herself and her son, as well as their visitor, until the day the rains returned.
When the water dried up, Elijah trusted God to do what He said He would do. When the widow heard the prophet speak, she believed in God’s promise as well. As a result, they were all well fed in a time of drought and famine.