The Generous Widow

The Generous Widow

By: Joy Wattenbarger

It’s happened to me so many times.  After going on a retreat or hearing a really good homily, I make a decision: I need to pray more. It’s not like I don’t know that prayer is important. It’s not even that I don’t like to pray. It’s just the fact that all my good intentions don’t change the fact that I’m a busy person…a really busy person. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. There never seem to be enough hours in every day. Even if you happen to be one of those super-organized-everything’s-neatly-listed-in-my-planner type of people, it just seems like there’s never enough time to do it all. There’s school and sports practice and music lessons and chores and homework and Church stuff and a job. And that’s not even counting spending any time with your family and friends, or sleeping! There’s always a million things to be done, and let me tell you, it’s probably not gonna slow down anytime soon.

So, this is my problem. It’s not that I don’t mean to spend time with God and make Him a priority in my life. It’s just that the million other things vying for my attention are usually noisier…and therefore, usually win.

But this Sunday’s first reading really hit me. It’s about the prophet Elijah and this woman that he meets. This woman is a poor widow, who, with her son, is just about to die from starvation.  Elijah asks her if she will bring him some water and bread, and she tells him that she just has a very small bit of food left for her and her son to eat, and then they will die. Elijah tells her to not be afraid and to bring him the little food she has left. She does it, and then something amazing happens: God provides food for she and her son in abundance, because of her faith and generosity.

You’re probably thinking, “what the heck does a starving widow have to do with my busy schedule?” This is what I realized. I usually spend my day running around like a crazy person and then “plan” to spend some time praying before I go to bed at night. This is where things, often, go wrong. By the time I get to the end of my day, I’m usually so tired that it is an accomplishment to stay awake long enough to brush my teeth! I allow everything else on my to-do list to take priority over spending time with God, and then am “surprised” when I don’t have time to pray.

The widow in the story did the exact opposite. Even though she thought she was about to starve, she generously gave food to Elijah first, and God blessed her by providing more abundantly than she could’ve imagined. This is what we’re called to do! Rather than giving God whatever time and energy (or lack thereof!) we have left at the end of the day, we should choose make Him first. Even if it means making a sacrifice of not hitting the snooze button, we can make a choice to spend our first few minutes with God each day.  Not only will we actually spend time in prayer, but we will also be open to hearing God’s voice guide us and provide for all of the other activities that we have throughout the day. If we spend time with Him at the start of our day, we can ask Him to give us wisdom to know what’s most important and His help to accomplish those things.

So take 10 or 15 minutes at the start of your day to spend some time with the God who loves you. He wants to help you with all of the things on your crazy schedule. And if He can provide food for a starving widow, He can certainly provide time and help for a busy young person. Just make sure you hold up your end of the deal…by being generous in spending time with Him, in prayer.