by John Lowe
(Laurens SC, USA)
5 So she went from him and shut the door upon herself and her sons; and as she poured they brought the vessels to her.
6 When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
Notice that the widow obeyed immediately after receiving these unusual instructions from Elisha, and she followed his orders step-by-step. How about you? Do you take God at His word this way?
Notice next, “She Had to Use What She Had” (vv.5 –6).
It seemed silly, pouring out her last few ounces of oil from one vessel to another, but she used what she had. She stepped out with little, and God turned it into much (see Luke 17:6). She willingly stepped out to do what she had been told to do, even though her actions appeared to be futile. However, when she started to pour the oil in the privacy of her home, under the watchful eyes of her sons, she witnessed a miraculous display of God’s overflowing supply. Do you ever feel too small to accomplish anything? You shouldn’t, because God delights in using little things for His big purposes. Next, I want to say-
She Had to Prepare for Abundance (vv.3 –6).
The oil was multiplied as it was poured out, and it didn’t stop flowing until all the vessels were full. The way to increase what we have is to use it; use it for the One who gave it to us in the first place. No one is benefited by us hoarding God’s gifts; it’s only when we use them that the Lord increases what we have. She is the one who had to pour out the oil; not Elisha or the sons of the prophets. The widow had to use what she had, and she had to do the work.
Elisha told her to prepare for abundance. He said, “Borrow all the pots you can.” It’s the same with God’s blessings; they may be great and many, so we need to be prepared to receive them and then to use them. He just keeps giving to those who use their talents for Him, but He will take away the talents if they are not used. When we do anything for Him we need to think big. We have a big God, and sometimes He chooses to give us a big gift or to bless us in a big way. Today we think that a church of 250 people is a big church. We often think small; we believe small and our expectations are trivial. Our expectancy may be the only limitation on what God is prepared to do for us! The last thing I want to say is-
The Success Was Brought About for Elisha (v.7).
We are told in verse 7 that the widow was successful in saving herself and her son. The verse says-
7 She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”
She returned to Elisha with her story of victory. Imagine the headlines in the local newspaper: “Company Widow Discovers Oil!” This was a woman who:
Proved the Adequacy of God.
She went from house to house with her small vessels, until one day, there were no more vessels to fill! Then the prophet told her what to do with the oil she had. He said she must not keep it for her own use. Those whom Divine intervention has made poor must be content with what they have (this, the Bible says is knowing how to want.). And they must not think, when they get a little of that which is better than ordinary, to use it only for their own luxury. Instead, Elisha told her to sell the oil to those that were rich, and could afford to bestow it on themselves. We may presume, since it was produced by miracle, it was the best of its kind, like the wine Jesus made from water, so that she might be able to ask for a good price and that there would be a good market for it. Probably the merchants bought it to export, since oil was one of the commodities that Israel traded in.
She
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