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Sep 27, 2023 06:00am

Stay in the Fight

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“I thought he was ‘the one’…why would God let my heart be broken again, mom?”

My daughter’s question slayed my heart. You see, over the years, my daughter has had many a broken heart. But this time, her heart was extra broken. Oh, friends, I wanted to snatch that boy bald-headed for breaking my girl’s heart! Nothing can get me in Mama Bear Mode more than someone hurting my kiddos.

I cupped my girl’s face in my hands and promised her, “This pain won’t go wasted–God will use each one of these tears toward your purpose, sister. Trust Him through this pain. He has helped you in the past, and He will help you now. He is writing your story—you just can’t see the ending yet.”

My husband on the other hand? He comes at any girl drama in our house from a guy’s perspective. Funny enough, it’s what works for my daughter and me, and this time was no different. He said, “Sis, use this as fuel to stoke your fire to keep living life and not give up. Don’t let this heartbreak control your future. You have to keep putting your heart out there. Sometimes, it’s going to be broken. Don’t give up. The right guy is gonna come along. Until then, stay in the fight.”

Stay in the fight.

She wanted to give up and hide in a hole for the rest of her life. I am happy to report that lasted just a few days before she was back to living life, still broken. (But Ben and Jerry’s ice cream did help a lot.) Here we are a month later, and she has stayed in the fight. We don’t know why God allowed this particular brokenness, but we do know that He is meeting her there. In a way, I think it makes her hungry for Him.

It’s funny how brokenness and giving up can go hand in hand. But you know what? These conditions aren’t always bad…in fact, they can set you up to experience God in a whole new way.

A miraculous type of way.

The starving widow in 1 Kings is a case in point. You see, not only was she starving, but her child was too. There was a famine in the land, and people were desperate for food. But when we meet our starving mama, she is ready to make her last meal and then die. Pretty hopeless, right?

It’s also a perfect setup for a miracle.

It was then God intervened. Perhaps she uttered a prayer to a God she had heard of. Perhaps she wondered if this God saw her. Perhaps it was because she was a widow. (God has a particularly soft spot for widows.) Instead of sending her a supernatural Door Dash, He sent the next best thing: His prophet, Elijah.

Elijah met her when she was gathering firewood, and he asked her for some water. Instead of giving him the hangry eyebrow (like I would have given him), she got him some water. Then, he asked her a question that had to have particularly stung for our starving mama: “Oh yeah, can you get me some bread, too, while you’re at it?”

I wonder if her eyes widened with shock thinking, You’ve got some nerve, pal! Or, maybe she thought this drought knocked a few marbles loose. But, our mama doesn’t freak out. Instead, she calmly tells Elijah her plan: “See these sticks? They are for a fire for my son’s and my last meal. After that, there’s no more food. We will die. Good luck finding some bread. Now, move on. I’ve got a fire to build.”

Elijah had an interesting response, one we hear often in the Bible: “Don’t be afraid.” After that, he asks her to do something equal parts crazy and ridiculous: “Look, I know you’re hungry. How about you make me some bread first before you make some for you and your son? God promises you will have an unending supply of oil and flour until the drought is done.”

I would have had questions. I would have raised my eyebrows. My reaction would probably have been like Gary Coleman’s in his famous line, “Watchya talkin’ ‘bout, Willis?” But our mama didn’t object. She didn’t blow off Elijah and continue on with her “eat and die” plan. Instead, she did something that perhaps only brokenness had prepared her for: she obeyed.

And this huge step of obedience unlocked exactly what God had promised through Elijah: an unending supply of oil and flour.

A miracle.

Our starving mama, who was resigned to die, listened to a man who had a crazy plan…and it saved her and her son’s lives.

You see, friends, she stayed in the fight. She hadn’t completely given up. There was still some hope there that maybe God still heard her prayers. That God was real. That He cared enough for her to send some supernatural Door Dash.

Brokenness had tenderized our mama’s heart, but it was her obedience that had allowed her to experience God and His provision.

I wonder…when have you been so desperate for God that you would obey Him, even in the most ridiculous way? Maybe God allows such times so we would do just that.

God meets us in our brokenness. He met our starving mama. And He’s meeting my daughter there now. Sometimes, His interventions come swift, like unending flour and oil in a jar. Sometimes, they come slow. And many times, we can’t always perceive God’s hand in the situation…but always, we can look back onto our seasons of brokenness and see one set of footprints that got us through that season: His.

Stay in the fight, ladies. Your oil and flour are coming. Until then, grab some Ben and Jerry’s. It helps.