How to Give When you Barely Have Anything Left

I was catching up on my read the Bible through and came to the story of Elijah and the widow at Zarephath located in 1 Kings 17. There had been drought. A widow was starving and barely keeping herself and her son alive. She only had a handful of flour and a little oil, yet God was asking her to feed Elijah. She was to give what little she had left. Elijah told the widow, "Don't be afraid." The Lord said that her flour would not be used up nor her oil run dry, until the rain returned.
  
We live in a time where we literally give or spend all that we have, almost to the point where we have nothing left or that we are eager to protect what we have left. Our time, money, energy, and physical goods, we run them down until they are spent. So what happens when we feel God asking us to give of those things? Do we do it with faith and trust that He will provide? Or do we hoard it for our own good? Just as the Lord provided for the widow who was faithful, He will provide for us who are faithful.

Pirouettes in Life

Have you ever had those times when you feel like everything is pulling at you and you are doing your best to stay above water so to speak? I am definitely in one of those times. Everything from homeschool, my parenting skills, relationships, my new business of selling children's books, this hurricane, traveling....it is all pulling at me and ahhhhhh each in different directions! I am so incredibly off balance.

So what do I do? Psalm 46:10  says, "Be still and know that I am God." Be still. These two simple words are so calming and bring me back to the foundation. Be still. Do nothing. Let go. Just stop and know that He is in control. He is my steady. Psalm 105 says, "Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always."Just like a ballerina must find and keep a focal point, I need to stay focused on Him as I do pirouettes in the dance called life.

Be still. Know. Look.