Grocery Shopping

This was grocery shopping day.
The day when I take money out of the ATM machine and give it to the grocery store.
Yes…in the day of charge cards and debit cards…I still pay cash for our groceries.

For years, my husband has suggested that I charge the groceries.
I just never wanted to…paying cash always kept me on track.
If I charged our food bill, it would have been too easy to go over our food budget.

To be perfectly honest, I still carry a calculator with me!
That goes back to our newly married days…when money was much tighter.
I even put groceries back on the shelf in those days if I went over my total.

The size of our family means that food shopping is a two hour morning.
Choosing the food, selecting the freshest fruits and vegetables…all takes time.

Think of the process.
Select the food…put it in your cart…get to the register…unload all you just put in.
Bag the groceries…pay the cashier…load up your car…drive home.
Unpack all the groceries…which have now moved four times since they were on the shelf.
Wash fresh fruit. Wash fresh vegetables.
Decide what to have for dinner.

We love to cook and bake in our house…and enjoy making things “from scratch”.
My grocery shopping is planned to last the whole week.
Except for milk!

Anyone that know our family knows how much milk we drink!
When everyone is home, we go through 12 or 13 gallons of milk a week!
We need to buy a cow…the milk problem would be solved.
Grass cutting would be solved, too!

Food does not last…it is not inexhaustible.
Food is purchased…prepared…and eaten.
I can think of nothing better than meal fellowship!
It doesn’t matter what my grocery bill looks like, or how many bags have to be unloaded.
It is my pleasure to cook for my family…and any friends that come into our home.

Ahab was king of Israel.
He was married to wicked Jezebel, daughter of the king of the Sidonians.
Ahab began to serve Baal and worship him.
Ahab set up an altar to Baal in the temple that he built for him.

God sent Elijah the Tishbite to Ahab.
The prophet spoke the word of God to this wicked king.“As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at My word.”
(1 Kings 17:1)

The Lord told Elijah to go to Kerith Ravine which was east of the Jordan.
He was to stay there while the ravens brought him bread and meat, morning and night.

Some time later the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
“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. 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.’ “
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. 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. (1 Kings 17:7-16)

In God’s hands…and at His Word…the widow had an inexhaustible supply of flour and oil.
The widow of Zarephath was a Gentile.
When she spoke to Elijah, she referred to the God of Israel, as the Lord your God.
She knew of God…but she didn’t know Him personally.

As absurd as Elijah’s request must have seemed, the widow obeyed.
God honored her obedience and did something extraordinary that only God could do.
God made Himself known in an inexhaustible food supply.
Later, the widow’s son was healed by God, through the prayers of Elijah.

Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is true.” (1 Kings 17:24)

God makes Himself known…and by faith…we can know Him.
He is not only the Giver of all good gifts…He IS the Gift!
What more could we ever want?

What unexpected way has God made Himself known to you?