The Prophet: The Resurrection
When One Moment Changes Everything: A Story of Resurrection and Real Faith
I never owned a bike helmet as a kid. Helmets were just starting to become popular, and we weren't the kind of family that spent money on extra accessories. My philosophy was simple: Don't crash and you'll be fine.
My brother and I rode for hours along country roads without a problem, so I never thought anyone really needed a helmet. Later, with my own kids, I made them wear helmets. Not because I believed in them, but because I didn't want my wife upset if she caught them without one.
Then came the day my son sailed over his handlebars. His front tooth was lying on the ground four feet away. His tooth had punctured his upper lip, and the bone that holds teeth in place had broken. Hours in the ER, attempts to reinsert the tooth twice, and screams I will never forget. Suddenly, I believed in bike helmets. My wife had to talk me down from buying full-face armor.
One moment can move you from unconvinced to a zealot.
The man who refuses seatbelts changes his tune after flying through a windshield.
The committed smoker gets serious after waking up from surgery.
A single experience can turn knowledge into belief in an instant.
We see the same pattern in the story of Elijah and the widow in 1 Kings 17. Elijah had proclaimed a drought on Israel for their disobedience. God first sent him to a stream for water and commanded birds to feed him. When the stream dried up, God sent him to a foreign widow who was down to her last meal and about to die.
She took a step of faith and shared her last food, and God provided for her every day of the drought. Elijah had companionship, and she had provision and protection. It was a good arrangement until everything fell apart.
When Everything Goes Wrong
A Death No One Saw Coming
1 Kings 17:17 says the widow’s son got so sick that there was no breath left in him. He died. Scripture doesn’t tell us why. We don't know if God sent the sickness or if it was just part of life in a broken world. What we do know is that he was gone.
The phrase "no breath left in him" is final. Remember, God created life in Adam by breathing into him. No breath means no life.
For this widow, the loss was crushing in two ways:
She lost her child. The grief is overwhelming.
She lost her future. Women back then depended on sons or husbands for survival. If she could have remarried, she would have. Her son was her only hope of escaping poverty and loneliness. He could grow up to work, marry, and take care of her in old age.
Now, that entire future was gone.
Imagine her despair. Not only is her son gone, but she also believes her stubbornness and sin might have caused it.
Grief, Guilt, and Conviction
“What have you against me?”
In her pain, the widow lashes out at Elijah.
1 Kings 17:18 says, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!”
This reaction is familiar. People in pain often lash out at those closest to them, at people they think won’t strike back, and at those who represent God.
But there’s more than grief. She immediately jumps to guilt. She assumes God is punishing her for her sin.
Understanding Conviction
We often throw the word “conviction” around without explaining it. Conviction is when God forces you to face your sin. It’s that internal pressure, that weight, the feeling that something in your life is not right.
The widow had been living with that. Every day she got food from God’s hand while knowing she wasn’t part of His people. She watched Elijah pray, thank God, and live his faith, while her own gods did nothing.
She knew she needed to confess and turn to God, but she didn’t. Now, convinced she waited too long, she assumes God is punishing her. Imagine the depth of that grief. She feels responsible for her son’s death and sees herself as deserving it.
Elijah’s Raw Prayer Behind Closed Doors
Elijah’s public faith was confident and strong. His private faith was raw, emotional, and messy.
When she blames him, he just says: “Give me your son.” Then he takes the boy upstairs, lays him on the bed, and prays a desperate prayer.
1 Kings 17:20 says, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?”
Elijah is hurting. Nothing fits his expectations. He believed God brought him there to bless this family. He thought God would protect them. He had grown attached to this boy. He thought they were safe.
Now the boy is dead. The widow is broken. God seems silent.
Elijah’s faith is real, but he doesn’t understand what God is doing. To us, safe means health and security. To God, safe means being in His hands, even if that path leads through suffering and death.
A Desperate Prayer for a Miracle
1 Kings 17:21 says Elijah stretched himself out on the child three times and cried to the Lord.
This wasn’t a polite or formal prayer. This was raw desperation. The word “cried” is like a parent running into a store with a limp child yelling, “Someone help my baby!”
Elijah had no instructions, no examples, no clue how resurrection worked. He simply cried out to God. Three times he screamed: “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.”
God Hears, God Responds, God Revives
1 Kings 17:22 says, “And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.”
God didn’t tell Elijah He would do this. There was no sign it was part of His plan. Elijah prayed. God listened. The boy lived.
This is the first resurrection recorded in Scripture. It happens in a foreign land, to a boy outside God’s people, because a prophet cried out in faith.
Don’t hesitate to pray. You don’t have to believe God will do what you ask, but you must believe He can and that He loves you. Let God decide when to say no. You don’t need to decide for Him.
“Your Son Lives”
Elijah carries the boy downstairs and gives him to his mother. His public composure returns.
No sermon. No rebuke. No lecture. Just: “See, your son lives.”
From Head Knowledge to Heart Knowledge
The widow responds:
1 Kings 17:24 says, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
This is more than a compliment. This is a declaration. She’s saying:
Your God is the true God.
What He says is true.
I now believe.
The word she uses for “know” is yada, meaning deep, intimate knowledge. It’s the difference between:
Knowing a parachute works because someone told you
Knowing it works because you jumped from a burning plane and it caught you
She always knew in her head that Elijah’s God had power. But it wasn’t until she saw the resurrection that she knew it in her heart. That moment moved her from unbeliever to believer.
Lessons About Real Faith
Two hard truths stand out:
1. God’s definition of safe isn’t ours
We think safe means:
Stability
Good health
Enough money
Predictable outcomes
God defines safe as being in His hands, even if life looks dangerous.
2. The thing we avoid might be the very thing we need
No parent would choose sickness or death for their child. But in this story, would you choose for the boy not to die?
His resurrection brought his mother to faith.
This moment reshaped their eternities.
The best thing for them came through the moment she feared most.
If she had controlled his life, she would have protected him from the best thing that ever happened.
So what should we do?
Do your best.
Pray.
Trust God when things slip out of your control.
Sometimes the moment we’d avoid at all costs is the one that leads to real faith.
God Loved Her Enough to Let Her Walk Through This
God loved this woman enough to put her in a position where she would believe. She wouldn’t have asked for resurrection because it required death first. But God wanted her heart, and He allowed it anyway.
How Will You Respond?
The next time God allows something into your life that doesn’t feel safe, ask yourself:
Will I get angry that God allowed this?
Will I trust that He loves my family more than I do?
Will I remember that sometimes the thing we would never choose is the very thing God uses most?
Safety isn’t the absence of danger. Safety is the presence of God. Will you remember that?
