Home Equipping Leaders African American Meditation: "Now I Know"

Meditation: "Now I Know"

"Now I Know"

These three words are often used in a moment of discovery after sifting through facts and coming to a new conclusion. They are sometimes uttered at a point of surrender, at a point of dispensing with a previous opinion or perception.

Now I know; before I was uncertain. Now I know; I had an inkling. Now I know; you just confirmed.

At times, by the time we know, it's too late; and sometimes, it's just in the nick of time.

The story preceding 1 Kings 17:8-24 is about a generous woman whose resources were pitifully low. The prophet Elijah shows up at her door and requests water -- something she could readily provide.

But when his request escalated to "a morsel of bread," it became a challenge. It was an embarrassing moment for her, as he was pushing her hospitality to the limit. The woman honestly declared to him what supplies she had and how it was barely enough for her family. Elijah, who was sent by God, sustained his plea to her to provide bread.

How fickle our beliefs when God does something miraculous in our lives and in an instant we doubt because of a new challenge confronts us.

Elijah knew -- even as she explained her predicament that what she had was insufficient to share -- a miracle from God was forthcoming. And so it was.

It was also the moment that prompted her to believe, at least initially, that he was a man of God. In her season of lack, she was forced to sacrifice her small quantity of meal and oil to feed someone outside her family.

But there is more to this story. The succeeding event would soon plant seeds of doubt in her mind.

Her opinion of Elijah quickly changed as she readily blamed him for coming to her home to "bring her sin to remembrance," what she believed caused her son’s illness. Elijah knew he had to eradicate these thoughts from her mind, so he turned to God for guidance.

Upon witnessing the miraculous healing of her son’s illness, she exclaimed, "Now I know that you are a man of God..."

How fickle our belief after God does something miraculous in our lives that, in an instant, we revert to doubt because a new challenge confronts us.

Because this woman believed her son’s illness was a result of her past sins, she perceived the first miracle brought to her as short-lived. The memory of her past was choking the glory of a more spectacular event in her life. In the weakness of her unbelief, God confirmed who Elijah was and who God was and is -- the God of supply.

Do we always need to know, or do we just need to believe? This story affirms the words of the old gospel song "Little is much when God is in it." We must be obedient to God, even when we do not know the plan and when we cannot identify God’s hand in our situation.


Carlene Lenore is a member of Kairos Community African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church located in Antioch, Tennessee.

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