2 Kings 4:1-2 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.”
We
had a guest pastor Steve Redden preach this last Sunday; our pastor’s pastor
back-in-the-day. Pastor Redden pointed out a central element of this passage in
that the husband of this woman “feared the Lord”, following God in reverential
adoration, yet he died. On this side of heaven there is no “prosperity gospel” and
the reality is that all hell can break loose at any time that will scar the
snot out of us. Trials, tribulations, disasters and evil deeds happen and
that’s reality in this “fallen” world. This poor woman was faced with no social
security or welfare in life, just challenges and problems in daily existence.
The Prophet Elisha graciously asks her: “What can I do to help you?” and
immediately follows with the question: What do you have in your house?” Not
someone else’s house. Tell me, what are your resources, your supply, your
talents, your skills, and ability. The woman plays the “comparison game“ and
states that she has nothing … except a jar of oil. There is a temptation today
to look at what others have and feel powerless. We even make assumptions of
what everyone else has, when it not reality. We think that everyone else has
more, but it is not true. We have a tendency to think that those who have more
are stable and happier, but they are not. God wants us to be content and to use
what we have in life. The question is: “Am I ready?”
2 Kings 4:3-4 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.”
Elisha
says, “Go get empty jars.” We have buckets full of sin and temptations in our
lives that we play games with God. We need to unpack them and deal with the
addictions and idols to empty our buckets of sin. But, we must realize also
that there are some good things in our lives that are not helping us and in the
way of God’s plan for our life that need to changed sometimes in order for us
to pour in God’s provision. Giving up preferences, comforts, power,
expectations, perks and privileges for God’s purposes and what He wants us to
do here. Either way, we can remember what a struggle it was to empty them out,
but what a joy after because there was now room for God and He poured Himself
in. It is the health and stability of
being establish in true relationship with our Maker. And think of this: Jesus
Christ emptied Himself and saved the world! The Lord is telling us to “get more
jars and not just a few”. When God speaks to us clearly, then we need to do
what we are told. Naturally, following and obeying Jesus is harder when times are
hard. Will we follow Jesus even if people make fun of us? Will we trust Him? Will
we take a risk and believe God?
We’ll hear the rest of Pastor Steve’s message on the next
post.
In Christ, Brian
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