The Widow at Zarephath 1 Kings 17:10-16 (NIV)
10 So he (Elijah) went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?"
11. As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread."
12 "As surely as the LORD your God lives," she replied, "I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die."
Elijah said to her, "Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.
14 For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ’The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.’ "
15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.
Can you imagine that? Is extreme drought, famine, you are at the brink of starvation, and someone is coming to your house, knocking at your door and asking your food... Your last crumb of bread, insisting: "Give me first!"... And the poor widow didn’t call the Police, didn’t went inside to look for the shotgun… She just gave Elijah EVERYTHING she had: a handful of flour and a drop of oil, enough for a small pita bread… She was able to sacrifice herself and her son, because she understood by faith, to “prime the pump”…
Many-many years ago, when I was in my high school years, I went up in the mountains with three friends from church. Every summer vacation we did the same trip, a week or two carrying our tents, and wandering going around the Carpathian Mountains.
So we arrived at this farm. It was a hot August day and we were thirsty… We knocked at the door… nobody… The owner was not there, the door locked… and his dog just barking aloud…
Going around we discovered a pump like this one (actually showing a pump - $ 50 from LOWE’S - I remembered to this from a Zig Ziglar presentation). And one of my friends grabbed the handle and started to pump. How many of you ever used those kind of old fashion water pumps?... Rise your hands please…
(Pumping) OK, so this guy began to pump, and pump, and pump,… about three or four minutes… After that, exhausted, he said… “nope, no water here, probably this is just an work out device… for biceps.”…
But I noticed how the grass looked fresh green around the pump, and even the soil was kind of moist… so I told them… the pump is functional, look and compare… And they said, OK, it’s your turn to pump. And I did… I pumped, and I pumped, and I pumped several minutes, and the squeaking noise was just awful… But no water…
Well, the owner showed up, alarmed by the dog barks… and we asked him for some water. He showed us the pump… Oh, no, it’s not working…
(Pumping again) Yes, is working, but we needed to PRIME THE PUMP FIRST!... You know what I am talking about… to prime the pump, don’t you? Well, at that time I didn’t know… And he went inside and came with a jug with water…
He poured the water into the pump… while we stared at him not understand why he don’t give us the water instead… And he said: now you pump… No, no like this…. And he grabbed the handle and he went several times up and down sturdy! And the water came.
You know, you need to put something inside here, before you have something out there… You need to have some arrows, yes you, King Joash, to have some arrows first, in order to shut them out… You need to have something in your bank account in order to be approved for some credit… Isn’t something?…
ILL. After we came here in US, I discovered that everybody around me were using something named “credit card” to buy things… We said, oh good, let’s go to a bank and asked them for tis wonder card… ziiip and pay for your gas, and ziiip agin and buy a nice church suit.
I went with one coworker, I told them that I a newcomer and and I need a credit card… The bank teller smiled and said: “Is not working this way… You have to have money in order to ask for money”… In other words, do something before, in order to expect results. Prime the Pump first!
See, unfortunately a lot of people are standing in front of the stove of live and saying: “hey stove, give me some heat, and I will put some wood in there!”…. This is not the way it works. You got the put something in, before you can get anything out…
So many times, you know, the employee goes to the employer saying “give me a raise and after that I will start coming to work on time”… My nephew Eddie asking me: “buy me a watch and I will read a book as you asked me to do so many times…” in other words, reward me right now and I will produce something later…
Can you imagine a youngster in school saying: “Teacher, if I will go home with an F again, my parents will skinned me alive; pass me on this semester and then I will study for the next year as nobody else. Reward me right now, I’ll produce later!”… Is not going to work that way. Can you ast seeing an old farmer staying in the middle of his field in October saying: “Oh Lord, I did not plan a thing this year, but if you give me a big crop this year, I’ll plant more than anybody next year… Is not going to work…
The rule of sowing and reaping is at being made by God, and is the fundament on everything in our Universe… Sowing and reaping…
In the spiritual area, in our relationship with the church and with God, people are doing the same thing: give me that blessing and I will do this and that… Heal me first and I will stop drinking after that. Give back my family and I will stop chasing other women right away…
It does not work like this… You see, you have to put something in (the pump) in order to have something out… I mean invest, sacrifice, sweat, before the reward… Have something already done in order to prime the pump…
August, hot, pump, and pump, and very hot... and the question is: how much effort are you willing to put in, for a drink of fresh water?...
And finally my friend Sorin said, “You know Ovidiu, I don’t thing is any water left down there… Oh yeas, still there but deep down… And the good thing about the water that is deep down at 50 feet underground, is this: the deeper the water - the purer, the sweeter, the cooler andthe most refreshing thing in the world…
Friends, is not true with our life, is not the same law assigned by God our Creator, in our lives? Is not true that if you become an MD, a doctor, in only six months of evening classes, or over the Internet classes, the reward is minimal and how many patients will trust you as their doctor?
… “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you can learn to do it well” (Zig Ziglar) We will never know how many kids will miss the opportunity of a college scholarship because they didn’t study an average of 10 more minutes a day…
We will never know how close we were to a genuine experience with God, to a real high level Bible study experience, finding the Scripture the most exciting thing in the world, only because we become discouraged to soon, become bored to soon, and we quit exactly before experiencing the joy…
(pumping) We will never know how much success we have had in life, in ourrelationship with our spouse, with our children, with our neighbors in telling them about Jesus, in our Christian experience… if only pumping for a little bit more, a little bit harder…
Pump and pump and pump … but only to give up… "Hey man, is no water down there, why spending time and energy for nothing… I quit, I am out of here’…
(pumping harder) No, no, don’t stop right now, is coming, wait a little bit more, just pump… If you stop, the water is going back down and the whole effort is really for nothing… just don’t quit… because if you do, you have to start ALLLLLLL OVER…
Yes my friends, this is the story of your life and the story of my life, this is the story of our church… this is the way God put the law of sowing and reaping in order to let us be serious in seeking the everlasting values of His Kingdom….
(Pumping) I believe with all of my heart that if you will pump long enough and hard enough, end enthusiastically enough the water will go up and up, against the law of gravity, pushing out the air and coming closer, and closer… and finaly the water starts to flow…
(Pumping slowly)… All you have to do once you reach this level, is to keep it easely, barely making an effort, just enjoying muving the handle, and the water is coming out effortless, more, and more… More water than you possibly can use…
The basic problem is this : so many times, people get involved in something and say – I will give it a tray and if is work out, that will be good, and if not… I don’t want to kill myself - you know what I mean don’t you? - I will stop and look for something else…
Let me tell you something… (pumping slow & apathetic) You will gonna pump for ever like that, my friends, before everything happened…
(Pumping fast) When it’s your turn, when God offered you by grace, an opportunity to do something for your life, for your church, for your family, for you as potential citizen of God’s kingdom…
When you have the handle in your hand, be serious about pumping. Pour something in the beginning, and pump with heart, until the water will flow… And once the water starts to flow, then my friends, is just easy as ABC… no more swat, no more effort, everyting is nice, smooth, easy, while the water is more and more, and purer, and cooler and fresher, and tastier, is unbelievable…
Returning to the story of that pump… the man, the owner of that mountain farm, finally said:… look inside the kitchen, they are some clean buckets, bring them all here. And he just played with the handle of that pump…. It was like flood of water without any effort this time…
Friends, if we are serious about seeking God’s Kingdom and His righteousness first, if we are willing to follow His advices, His way instead or our way, we will respect those two rules:
1.Prime the pump first. Give to God first. Seek Him and His rigteousness first.
2.More effort in the beginning, is rewarded with less effort and more enjoyment after that…
And respecting them, we will be blessed more than our wildest dream… Successful life here and eternal life there…
