Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” 2Elisha 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 except a jar of oil.” 2 Kings 4:1-2 NASB
In this Old Testament story, a woman comes to Elisha after her husband died and tells Elisha that the creditors are coming to take her sons away as slaves to pay for the debt that her husband left. We are not given the context surrounding the debt that the husband incurred, but we know that it was significant enough for the widows two sons to be taken as slaves to pay the debt. We also don't see anywhere where the sons or the widow incurred the debt themselves, yet they are the ones stuck with paying it. This story provides us with a revelation of what happens to the next generation when the previous generation compromises in certain areas (for further study, check out the story of Gideon in Judges 6). We have seen over the past 25 years a gradual "falling away" from the church by the younger generations. We are upset by this fact, we are hurt by this fact; and the church has tried to find solutions to remedy this epidemic. But as the current generation laying the foundation for the next generations, what we need to understand is the pattern we see in this passage, throughout scripture, and in our present experience: "One generations compromise will lead to the next generations captivity". When we grasp this concept, we will begin to understand the importance of our role as fathers, mothers, grandparents, mentors and all the rest of us that are responsible for developing the next generations. We will also see the role that the church has played in this epidemic because of passivity, or becoming distracted from the great commandment and the great commission. Let me just say, this is no place for shame or guilt to creep in, but a place for humble realization and prayer to reign in the church again. We can never become what God wants us to be until we acknowledge who we are (Gen 32:27). In our story in 2 Kings 4, the only hope that the mother had to keep her sons from entering bondage was the intervention of God. She needed a miracle from the hand of God; and so do we. For starters, she had to acknowledge her inability to change what was going to happen; while acknowledging and submitting to the absolute power and will of God to solve the problem. We find ourselves at the same cross roads that she found herself at. We cannot solve the problem through human effort or strategizing, but by humbling ourselves and falling at the feet of the One who never faces a problem too difficult. In fact, He is the only Shepherd that perfectly excels at chasing down those who have fallen away. Do we desire that our children would be lovers of Christ and not just church attenders? Do we desire above all else that our children would earnestly seek the will of God for their life and pursue that with all of their heart? Do we desire to see a generation filled with the Holy Spirit changing the culture of today? Then we must run to the Father as this woman did, and acknowledge our weakness and inability and He will answer the cries of His people. This woman didn't have much, and you may feel like that today. But what you do have enough to run to the Father. Will you and I do that today? Questions to Consider: 1. Have you found yourself facing a situation where you needed God to come through like this widow did? How did you see God move in that situation? 2. How are you being used by God to lay a foundation for the next generation? What is the Lord leading you to do personally for this mission?
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