A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.” So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.” 2 Kings 4:1-7
“Little is much when God is in it. Most of her neighbors would have unused empty vessels sitting around, so she wasn’t robbing anybody by borrowing them, and once she had sold the oil, she could return the vessels…
The amount of oil she received was limited by the number of vessels she had, and that was controlled by her faith. When she sold the oil, she had enough money to pay off the debt and maintain herself and her two sons. The Lord doesn’t always perform miracles of this kind to help us pay our debts, but He does meet our needs if we trust and obey.
If we give everything to Him, He can make a little go a long way. This miracle also reminds us of the greatest miracle of all, the gracious forgiveness of our debts to the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ.”
Warren W. Wiersbe in Be Distinct (2 Kings & 2 Chronicles): Standing Firmly Against the World’s Tides (The BE Series Commentary; Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2010) 41.
“Tell me, what do you have?”
This is a powerful question from the prophet. God often works miracles when we are willing to assess what we have and make it available to God. “A jar of oil,” she answered.
Next, notice in this scene, Elisha, instructed her to go borrow as many empty vessels as possible. “Do not just gather a few.” Imagine the work and the faith it required.
She could have easily assessed the situation in human terms and the labor expected of her. But no, she complied. She filled the room with vessels and God filled them with oil.
This is a powerful demonstration of what God can do for each of us.
Many reason, “I will start giving once I get out of debt.” Other say, “I need to look after myself with the little I have.” Don’t be guided by such thinking.
If you are in a hard place with unexpected challenges, here’s what I am learning in real-time: Give God what you have and go get empty vessels.
Give Him your time, your seemingly limited resources, or whatever you have. And get vessels, or in plain terms, get in a position to receive from Him what you need.
It may be the most faith-stretching work you have ever done, but you can do it. You’ve got this. God’s got you.
When this posts, I am still on my way back to Denver from Cape Town. If you want a copy of the South Africa trip report and the discerning direction documents we built, reply to this email. I will share them.