“The woman said to Elijah, ‘Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth’” (1 Kings 17:24). 
Why did Jesus heal people? The quick answer is, “Because they were sick,” but we can’t begin to imagine that in the 33 years Jesus spent walking on the planet he healed every single person who was sick. So why did he perform the healings that he did? Contrary to some people’s ideas, the healings were not the point of Jesus’ ministry. He did some healing. He did raise a couple of people from the dead (though was that really any favor, because they just had to die again). And he did some other various miracles. But none of those were the point of his ministry. His ministry was to announce that the kingdom of God had come near, and the miracles (healings, raisings, etc.) were both signs of that kingdom and actions that removed the barriers people had to be able to hear the message of the kingdom. Healing was a reminder of God’s presence to those who had lost hope.
I believe that’s also what is happening in this story in 1 Kings 17. This widow, as I said on Tuesday, was running on fumes in the hope department. She was pretty much at the bottom—twice. First, she had no food. Then, she lost her son. And the second loss was worse than the first because she had just begun to have hope again when her son died. So the second time she blames God—or at least God’s agent, Elijah. And Elijah knows this woman needs a reminder of God’s presence. So he does what seems to be an outlandish act. He stretches himself out across the boy and asks God to raise him up from the dead. Now, there might be all sorts of scientific explanations that people attempt as to what happened here in that room, but the reality is that in that moment, when the boy’s life returned to him, the widow was reminded of God’s presence in her life, and she began again to trust the word of the Lord.
We all need reminders of God’s presence from time to time. We may not get them quite so dramatically, but there are reminders each and every day, if we’re willing and able to open our eyes to see them. Sometimes you might even the agent by which God reminds another person of his presence, as Elijah was for the widow. Your kind word, your gentle touch, your very presence might be what someone else needs to be reminded that God cares about them, that God sees them, that God knows them, that the kingdom of God is among them. And even if it isn’t dramatic, like the story of the widow’s son, it’s no less real, because God is working and that’s what ultimately matters.