Mensa Otabil - The Supply Shall Not End (10/18/2025)
This week, we are looking at God’s provision. God knows how to provide for us when times are hard and there is scarcity. There is so much to learn from the Bible as we consider God’s provision, and we look to 1 Kings chapter 17, verse 14. «For thus says the Lord God of Israel: The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.»
This is a very popular story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath. There is hardship; there’s scarcity in Samaria, and Elijah has to survive. So God sent him to this widow, who is barely surviving, and she lives in the town of Zarephath. The town of Zarephath was known for oil and flour production. In good times, they had them in abundance, but at this point in the life of Zarephath, the oil is drying up and the flour is drying up. There is this widow, and widows in those days were at the bottom of the social ladder. They didn’t have anyone to provide for them, and they literally lived on leftovers.
This is a woman who has a little oil and a lot of flour, trying to survive. Elijah comes to her and says, «Share your meal with me.» She decides to share her meal with Elijah, and then Elijah speaks these powerful prophetic words to her: that the meal and the oil shall not dry up, the bin of flour shall not be used up. The story tells us about God’s continuous provision for us. There will be hardship; what you have in your hands may just be tiny.
For this woman, it was about the end of her resources. It’s like having your last ten cedis or your last five cedis, all your life’s piece of money, or the last provisions that you can eat from. God comes to you and says, «Yes, it seems to be small in your hand, but I’m going to provide for you, and I’m going to take care of you.» So Elijah says it will not end. It didn’t say they would be full; it didn’t say you would have abundance, but it says the small thing you have in your hand will not run out.
In other words, every day there will be something small in your hand. Every day there will be a meal of flour; every day there will be some oil. You will not have gallons of oil, but every day there will be sufficiency for you. That’s how God takes care of us. We may not have everything in abundance; we may not know what tomorrow holds, but every day, every tomorrow, God gives you your meal, and He gives you your oil.
I pray that every day when you wake up, a miracle will embrace you and God will give you your daily bread, what is needed for the day. Elijah says to her, «This is going to happen until the day the Lord brings rain on the land.» It’s a very important notation because it tells us God does not do that for us all the time. In times of extreme hardship, God supernaturally provides for His own, but when things normalize, when the situation is normalized, He expects us to work, and He expects us to eat by the work of our hands.
So He says, «When the rains come back, when the famine is ended, this miracle is going to end.» You have to go back to your normal way of living your life. You go to work, you farm your ground, and you live from the produce of your ground. But whilst we are in extreme circumstances, God says the little you have in your hand will not dry up.
I don’t know what you have in your hand; it may be little, it may be small, maybe a small amount. But I pray the same prayer that Elijah prayed: that what you have in your hand will not run out, and it will not dry up until the day the Lord brings abundance to the earth again. May that be your miracle, and may that be your testimony throughout this week and the weeks ahead.
Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, You are the God of more than enough. I trust You to sustain me throughout this season. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»