Lindsay Roberts
There’s an amazing story in the Bible that shows God can supply our natural needs in supernatural ways. In 1 Kings 17 NIV, the prophet Elijah meets a widow who has almost run out of food. He asks her for some bread to eat. “As surely as the Lord our 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” (v. 12).
When Elijah asked the widow for the first portion of her food, he was really asking for the tithe ― the first tenth. The word “tithe” actually translates as increase. That doesn’t make sense in the natural, does it? How can you give away 10 percent of your income and call it increase? That’s just how it works. When the tenth is given to God, He supernaturally increases it.
The widow believed the word of the Lord, and she gave the first portion of her last meal to His prophet. Because of her obedience, her family lived in God’s supernatural supply for nearly a thousand more meals!
Like the widow, when we step out in faith and obey God’s Word, He proves how He can supply our natural needs―often in supernatural ways. Consider Malachi 3:10, which says:
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse … and prove me now herewith saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.