“The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.” Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.” 2 Kings 4:1-7.
Let’s break this down into sections. In the first sentence, a desperate widow steps out of her discomfort zone to approach the prophet Elisha. Her husband must have attended prophecy school with Elisha, and since his death she had fallen upon very hard times. Who better to seek help from than a trusted old chum. As she pours out her heart he stands, arms crossed in front of him, and listens, and then replies, what do you want me to do about it?, (my paraphrase). I’m sure she wanted the magic wand treatment, which would have eliminated all her woes, but that was not to be. She must have been hurt with his reply, after all there were creditors at the door wanting payment for those old college bills, ready to take her kids as slaves. Things couldn’t have been worse.
The next thing we read is him asking her what she has in the house. Frustrated, she reiterates that she has nothing but a little jar of oil. This amazing tale continues with the woman being given the task of collecting as many jars, jugs, bottles and containers as she can find. She complies, and following the prophet’s instructions, goes inside her home and starts pouring out of the puny jug of oil into the accumulated vessels. Miraculously the precious oil keeps flowing until there are no more jars to fill.
The happy conclusion was that the oil was sold to pay off the wolves at the door, and she and the children could live on the remainder. What does all this mean for us? First of all we see desperation in this woman. With no where else to turn, she calls upon God. But God doesn’t just fix the problem, instead he asks her what she has. In this case it was the oil, but it was also the effort she put forth as she did what she was told to do. All of us will come to a point of desperation some time in our lives. Death, sickness, loss of income will all hasten its arrival. What will we do? Curse God? Try to get by on our own? Let the creditors take the kids? Or will we call out to God, the only wise thing to do. God isn’t mean, but sometimes he allows things to “fall apart“, because he can use the desperation to bring us closer to him. Sure, God could just wave his wand, but like the needy widow, he asks us to put forth our own effort, and then he will supply the outcome. We supply the possible, and He will do the impossible. How marvelous is that!! What desperate issue are you facing today? Bring your empty vessels to God, trusting that he will fill them as long as there is need.
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