Sometimes we find ourselves in places we never thought we would be divorce, illness, infidelity, financial crisis, spiritual crisis, and the list could continue. The question is, where do we turn when we face these life-altering situations?
I am reminded of a lady in the bible in 2 Kings. She was experiencing tremendous loss from the death of her husband. On top of that traumatic experience, someone was trying to take her children away due to her inability to pay family debt. So imagine the emotional stress she was experiencing as a widow and mother. She could have turned to friends and family, but she doesn't; she heads straight for the man of God.
She turns to a prophet, Elisha. "Your servant, my husband, is dead. You know that your servant honored the Lord with fear. But the man whom he owed money has come to take my two children to make them serve him. Elisha said to her, "What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you"have in the house?" And she said, "Your woman servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil."
She replies she has nothing at first but then haphazardly says a jar of oil. You would think the prophet would have given her money or offered a straightforward solution, but instead, he gave her some bizarre instructions, go and gather empty jars. I wonder what the woman was thinking. No matter, she followed his instructions and sent her sons to collect all the jars they could find. Elisha told the woman to shut the door when she had gathered all the jars. Please take notice this part of the story. Although the woman wasn't aware, this was her only chance to gather jars, which would later translate into how much oil she would have to sell for monetary gain. When she went in and shut the door, she began to pour the oil until the last jar was full.
You see, the thing she thought was insignificant was the answer to her problems. The moment she started pouring was the moment it was multiplied. Sometimes when we face famine in a particular area, we neglect to pour out, which makes us stagnant. You are born with God's gifts, which can't be taken from you; however, our enemy can strongly discourage their use. So when we look at our life, we should never judge something by our standard but by what the Lord has called us to do. Because this woman was faithful and gathered abundantly, she paid her debt and saved her children. Under her control, the jar was simply a jar, but under the Lord's control, it was a saving grace for her family. She not only had enough but abundantly more than she could hope.
I am reminded of a lady in the bible in 2 Kings. She was experiencing tremendous loss from the death of her husband. On top of that traumatic experience, someone was trying to take her children away due to her inability to pay family debt. So imagine the emotional stress she was experiencing as a widow and mother. She could have turned to friends and family, but she doesn't; she heads straight for the man of God.
She turns to a prophet, Elisha. "Your servant, my husband, is dead. You know that your servant honored the Lord with fear. But the man whom he owed money has come to take my two children to make them serve him. Elisha said to her, "What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you"have in the house?" And she said, "Your woman servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil."
She replies she has nothing at first but then haphazardly says a jar of oil. You would think the prophet would have given her money or offered a straightforward solution, but instead, he gave her some bizarre instructions, go and gather empty jars. I wonder what the woman was thinking. No matter, she followed his instructions and sent her sons to collect all the jars they could find. Elisha told the woman to shut the door when she had gathered all the jars. Please take notice this part of the story. Although the woman wasn't aware, this was her only chance to gather jars, which would later translate into how much oil she would have to sell for monetary gain. When she went in and shut the door, she began to pour the oil until the last jar was full.
You see, the thing she thought was insignificant was the answer to her problems. The moment she started pouring was the moment it was multiplied. Sometimes when we face famine in a particular area, we neglect to pour out, which makes us stagnant. You are born with God's gifts, which can't be taken from you; however, our enemy can strongly discourage their use. So when we look at our life, we should never judge something by our standard but by what the Lord has called us to do. Because this woman was faithful and gathered abundantly, she paid her debt and saved her children. Under her control, the jar was simply a jar, but under the Lord's control, it was a saving grace for her family. She not only had enough but abundantly more than she could hope.
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