The Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
I remember a time recently where I got home from work after a really long day. I had run a really high energy youth ministry event, the kind that takes a lot of prep and set up, and it’s attended by a lot of teens, and then a lot of cleaning up and breakdown. I got home late, my feet hurt, my body was aching, I was exhausted. And all I could think about was that I had another event the next day. I was so tired and so beat I felt so overwhelmed by the idea of needing to do it all over again. It honestly didn’t even feel possible. I did not have the energy to do it. But I said a prayer and I went to sleep (maybe cried myself to sleep, who can say, it’s all a blur). When I woke up the next day, I felt rested, my body was comfortable, I showered and had a great breakfast, and I was ready for the day! We had a great event, it was a huge success and I pulled it off.
The truth is how I felt that first night was very valid, at that moment I did not have energy to do it, BUT what I had forgotten was that God was going to give me the energy that I needed in the moment that I needed it. I didn’t have to have the energy to run another event that same night, so God hadn’t given that to me yet. But when I did need it, I found that it was there in abundance.
In the first reading for Sunday we hear a similar story, about a widow who is starving and almost out of flour and oil, but Elijah tells her “first make me a little cake and bring it to me, then you can prepare something for yourself and your son. For the Lord says ‘the jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry.’” With a deep trust in Elijah and the Lord, she uses the very end of her flour and oil to make a cake for Elijah and her trust was well placed. She was able to eat for a year and the jar did not go empty and the jug did not run dry.
God knows our needs and He will not let us down. He will give us what we need in the moment that we need it, if we place our trust in Him. If you got in an argument with your dad on the way to school and you are distracted, say a prayer and trust in Him and He will give you just the right amount of focus to do well on your test in first period, and He can give you the humility to apologize to your dad in the afternoon.
God will not desert us. He will not let our jars go empty, He will not let the jug run dry, we need to lean on Him in our times of need and trust in Him, and He will continue to provide for us in every way.