Trust God with your Flour and Oil

Cheryl Keithly is a woman of God. Yet, Cheryl will be the first to tell you that she needs to refocus daily on her faith walk and relationship with her Lord. Throughout the years, Cheryl has found herself in situations where her own financial needs made it challenging to give to the ministry of the church.

Cheryl recalled the story of a friend who also faced a challenging time when finances were tight. Her friend's local congregation had embarked on a major stewardship drive. She really struggled with her desire to participate, especially considering her financial limitations. Cheryl asked her friend what she was going to do. The friend responded that after prayer and Bible study, she came across the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:7-16).

In this story, there was a great famine in the land, and the prophet Elijah was directed by God to visit a widow who had just enough flour and oil to make a last meal for herself and her son. Elijah told the widow that God would not let the flour and oil run out if she baked a loaf of bread for the three of them. The widow trusted Elijah and baked the bread. To the widow's amazement, there were flour and oil left over.

Cheryl's friend then told her that after exercising good stewardship of the assets God has given her, she will trust the Lord to help meet her commitment to this stewardship drive.

The story of the widow of Zarephath and the testimony of her friend have both impacted Cheryl. Cheryl has also been molded by the models of stewardship that her parents exhibited during her upbringing. Cheryl and her late husband, Kelly, have practiced great generosity to ministry during their lives in addition to caring for their children.

As Cheryl states, "Having discovered the joy of giving, I am going to trust God and watch Him amaze me too! I don't want to miss the abundantly wonderful joy of sharing God's blessings with others and making a difference in their lives … especially if it makes an eternal difference." Cheryl encourages as many as will listen to "lift their jar of flour and jug of oil" to God and see how He will amaze you. She and Kelly have done this with their current giving in addition to implementing their gift (estate) plan that will continue to support the church's ministry even when they are in heaven.

By trusting God with their flour and oil, Cheryl and Kelly have been blessed to be a blessing.