“There Is Enough”

Text: 1 Kings 17:8-16

On April 15, 1912, when the HMS Titanic hit that iceberg and began to sink, there were 2,223 people on board. But the Titanic was equipped with just twenty lifeboats, which had a total capacity for 1,178 people. By the end of that fateful night, though, only 705 people survived. If you do the arithmetic, that means that 473 more people could have been loaded onto those lifeboats and had their lives saved. So why weren’t they loaded into those lifeboats?

Interviews conducted after the shipwreck revealed why. As passengers got into the boats, they demanded that the boats not be filled to capacity, for fear that boats might not be actually able to hold as much weight as they thought. And so one lifeboat, for instance, that was designed to hold at least 40 people, was set sail with only 12 people in it.

And when the Titanic finally went under, and as hundreds of people screamed for help as they flailed about in the icy waters of the Atlantic, the lifeboats hesitated to go back and pick up more people. In at least one boat, the wealthy men on board paid the crew members not to row back and get more people. They did that because they believed that there wasn’t enough – that there wasn’t enough room in the boats for them and for those drowning people. They believed that there wasn’t enough – that there wasn’t enough room in the boats for them and for those drowning people, even though in fact they had the space and the resources to have saved literally hundreds of those people.

It turned out that only two of the twenty lifeboats ever rowed back to rescue people. But because they hesitated so long before doing that, they were able to save only three people. There’s not enough. There’s not enough room in the lifeboats. Because so many people that night believed that, at least 473 people died who didn’t have to die.[1]

There’s not enough. That’s what that widow in the town of Zarephath must have been thinking. As she looked at the reality that was right there in front of her, she knew that starvation wasn’t far off. And so clutching on to the few measly ounces of flour that she had left, she went off in search of some firewood so that she could cook one last pitiful little meal for son and herself, one last supper before the two of them would die from hunger.

But as the widow walked out to the city gate in search of some twigs, she met up with a man by the name of Elijah. Now, Elijah was a prophet. Elijah was someone who God had appointed to go and confront the rulers of that day – King Ahab and Queen Jezebel – about the way that they were trying to lure the people away from God and get them to worship other gods, like the god known as Baal. And one thing God did to get the people’s attention that God wasn’t happy with what was going on was that God caused it to stop raining. And of course, without rain the crops didn’t grow, and pretty soon the supply of food in the land started to run out.

But during that drought, God provided for Elijah. First, God told Elijah to travel to a certain secluded river bed. And when he did that, every day God caused ravens to come and bring Elijah something to eat.

But after a while, God spoke to Elijah again and told him to leave that river bed and go outside his homeland, outside of Israel, to a town called Zarephath, and there, God said, a widow would take care of him. And since that was what God told him to do, that is exactly what Elijah did.

But when Elijah, that man of God, that prophet of God, first saw that poor widow gathering sticks by the city gate, what did he say to her? He didn’t say, “Oh, I’m so sorry about the hardship that you’re facing.” He didn’t say, “Ma’am, how can I help you?” No, the first words out of Elijah’s mouth were a request, a demand. He said to her, “Hey, lady, run off and get me something to drink.” Now, usually we don’t think that asking someone for a drink is much of a big deal. But we need to remember that there was a drought going on. There wasn’t much water to be had, and here was a complete stranger asking, demanding, that she drop everything and hurry and get him something to drink.

And just as soon as that widow started out in search of water, Elijah called out yet another request, yet another demand. He yelled, “Hey, lady, could you also cook me up something to eat? I’m starving!”

But the widow turned to him and said, “Sir, I don’t mean to be rude, but I just don’t have any food to spare. You see, all the food I have left in the world are these couple of measly little ounces of flour. And right now I’m trying to get a fire started so that I can cook what I have so that my son and I can eat one last time before we die from starvation.”

Well, how did Elijah respond? Did he say, “Oh, I’m so sorry I bothered you! I didn’t know!”? Did he say, “Wow, I had no idea that things were so hard for you. I’ll go and ask someone else for some food”? No, of all things, Elijah said to her, “Stop being afraid! If you and your son want to go off and have a last supper and die, then go for it. But before you do that, take some of the flour that you have and cook me something to eat. Because God says that despite what you might think, there is enough. Despite what you might think, your flour isn’t going to run out.”

And so the widow went and did what Elijah said. She went and took those last measly ounces of flour that she had, scraped it all out of the bowl and cooked it for Elijah and fed him. But then, later on, when she went back and looked into the jar, it was just like Elijah had said – there was enough! – there was more flour in the bowl. And that went on, day after day, week after week, with that widow able to make enough food each day not only for her son and her, but also for Elijah.

There’s not enough. At certain points along the way, both Elijah and that widow must have wondered if there really would be enough for them to survive. But as Elijah and that widow put their trust in God, they discovered for themselves that God does provide and that there was indeed enough.

There’s not enough. There’s not enough food! That’s what the Hebrew people cried out as Moses led them through the desert on the way to the Promised Land. But God provided and showed them that there was enough, sending down manna, a bread-like substance, every day throughout their 40-year journey.

There’s not enough. There’s not enough water! The Hebrew people also raised that complaint to Moses. But God provided and showed them that there was enough, causing water to gush forth from rocks.

There’s not enough. In the New Testament, that’s what the disciples said to Jesus when Jesus told them to go out and feed thousands of hungry people. But God provided and showed them that there was enough, taking the few pieces of fish and bread that they had with them and transforming it into an abundant feast.

There’s not enough. Here in the United States, we keep telling ourselves that all the time. But the reality is that here in the United States we spend more money on garbage bags every year than what people in 90 other countries in the world spend on everything in a year.[2] There is enough. In fact, the reality is that we have so much, we spend a small fortune just getting rid of all our leftovers.

There’s not enough. Even though that’s not true, that’s what we keep telling ourselves. And so we often end up convincing ourselves that if there isn’t enough, then what we need to do is just look out for ourselves. Yeah, we might believe that God wants us to care about and serve others. But if we really believe that there’s not enough, we end up convincing ourselves that our one and only true priority in life is just looking out for ourselves, taking care of our own wants and needs.

Over in the eastern part of Pennsylvania a college professor organized a mission trip for some of his students to go to Haiti, which is probably the most impoverished nation in the entire western hemisphere. While they were there, the professor arranged for the students to help in some health clinics, caring for starving and disease-ridden patients. They visited children in their schools, schools that often lacked even the most basic things like books, paper, and pencils. And during the evening hours, the students spent much time listening to the people of Haiti, learning from them firsthand what it’s like to have to struggle just in order to survive from one day to the next.

At the end of the trip, one of the college students went up to the professor and said, “You know, for some time I’ve been thinking about going to medical school when I finish college. Now I’m sure that’s what I want to do. I want to become a doctor and come back here to Haiti and care for these people.”

Well, some years went by and one day that professor happened to bump into that former student. And so right away the professor asked him, “Well, did you do it? Did you go to medical school? And the young man replied, “Yes. Yes, I did. I’m a doctor now. I’m a plastic surgeon.” The professor’s face lit up and he said, “That’s great. It must be so exciting to heal burn victims and help disabled children with the skills that you have now.” But the young man paused for a few moments, and then staring at the ground, he told the professor that in his practice he didn’t treat burn victims or help disabled children. And he had never returned to Haiti to care for the people there. His specialty, he confessed, was cosmetic surgery. He spent most of his life removing wrinkles from the faces of rich women who were wealthy enough to afford him.[3]

When that young man started out in life, he knew that God was calling him to serve people in need, to use his life to make a difference for people who were poor and hurting. But as time went by, he apparently bought into the idea that there isn’t enough – that there’s isn’t enough to take care of my needs and other people’s needs. And so he decided to turn away from the people who genuinely needed his help and looked out really only for himself, pursuing a career that didn’t really accomplish anything of true value, but that did make him a lot of money to satisfy his own wants and needs.

There is enough. As our high school seniors prepare to graduate and launch into a new phase of their lives, and as all of us – no matter what age we might be – consider what we’re doing with our lives, remember: there is enough. God provides. And that means that God gives us the freedom and the opportunity to not only take care of our own wants and needs. But that God also give us the freedom and the opportunity to serve others, and to fulfill the calling that God has for each of us.