1 Kings 17: 10-16 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.

‍

In 1912, traveling tickets were the most expensive that one could buy. Each round-trip ticket was worth approximately $10,000 to sail from England to America. This was during a time when laborers made $6 a week! This amount of money was unimaginable, but of course the rich people of that time were ready to pay that sum to sail in this great ship, that was not just any ship, but the best ship built called the Titanic.

‍
The Titanic was an impressive ship: it’s length was 882 feet, which is equivalent to three football fields, it was ninety-two feet wide and its height was equivalent to an eleven-story building. The Titanic had not only been built enormously, but also on the bottom had been built with four compartments in case something happened or if water got in, that it would keep sailing towards it’s destination. The Titanic was built to never sink.

‍
But on the foggy night of April 14, before 12 AM, the Titanic, carrying good speed, collided with a huge iceberg, which left her with a 300-foot wound. This enormous ship that was believed to be unsinkable, sunk rapidly into the depths of the sea killing 1,513 lives of the 2,224 that were on board.

‍
The list of victims who perished that night were the majority of those rich men who paid for the first-class tickets of $10,000; for them there was no return home, their trip there was incomplete, and not all the money they had could free them from the death.

‍
The creator of the Titanic boasted that his ship was unsinkable, to those who bought tickets, He promised a good trip and a GUARANTEED return. People believing THAT PROMISE boarded that huge ship that day, accepting that truth, without knowing that later they would tragically lose their lives.

‍
WHAT THESE PEOPLE, WHO DIED, FORGOT IS THAT WHAT THE CREATOR OF THE TITANIC PROMISED WAS A PROMISE THAT HE COULD NOT GUARANTEE AND NOT FULFILL. WHAT SEEMED TO BE A SAFE JOURNEY, BECAME A TRAGIC AND UNSAFE JOURNEY.

‍
In the story we read from 1 Kings, we see Elijah trying to make this widow understand that if she put God first, there was a sure guarantee from God that her needs would be met.

‍
1 Kings 17:14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.

‍
1 Peter 1:24-25 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

‍
Let me give you three reasons why we must trust and prove that God’s guarantee is always true.

‍
1. Because the One who promises them cannot LIE.

‍
Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

‍
Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

‍
You know why God's return is guaranteed?  Because He who promised it does not lie, and is always faithful.

‍
2. Because the One who promised them not only cannot lie, but also doesn't change.

‍
Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

‍
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
God is not like the man who changes his mind, who changes his life, who changes. God's desire is always the same.

‍
3. Because the one who promised them not only does not lie, or change, but promises to return more than the original investment.

‍
Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

‍
Proverbs 19:17 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.