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.” 3Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, even empty vessels; do not get a few. 4“And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all these vessels, and you shall set aside what is full.” 5So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing the vessels to her and she poured. 6When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not one vessel more.” And the oil stopped. 7Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.” 2 Kings 4:1-7 NASB
This woman had just a small amount of oil left in a jar, hardly enough to pay off a significant debt. We know from the story that God is going to supernaturally multiply the oil that will be gathered into vessels and sold to pay the debt. But for now, all she had was a tiny amount of oil. The woman recognized what she lacked but the prophet Elisha is going to demonstrate to her how powerful that "little" can be. This is an important revelation that Elisha is showing us here. Elisha didn't give up when he found out that the woman had nothing except a tiny bit of oil. Elisha didn't look at what this woman lacked but instead looked to what she could accomplish with the little. Let us take this lesson to heart in the church when we are dealing with those who have nothing or just a little to offer. Oil in scripture signifies the anointing of the Holy Spirit. This woman didn't have much, but what she had could be used for extraordinary purposes. As a church we have the Holy Spirit with us in different measures. Sometimes we quench Him (1 Thessalonians 5:19), sometimes we grieve Him (Ephesians 4:30), but as temples of the Holy Spirit, He is always abiding in us and with us. But we have a promise from our Father that He wants to pour out the Holy Spirit in abundance on His people in these last days (Acts 2:16-21). This woman's strength was small, and her faith was tiny. Her doubts were extreme, and her fears were abundant. But all she needed was a tiny bit of oil to see God move abundantly. Zechariah 4:10 tells us: "Do not despise small things (beginnings)". I am a person that things of big things quite often. I am a dreamer that thinks about outlandish ideas and how to implement them. Sometimes those dreams are from God but often they are not. But with any dream or idea, there must be a starting point for it to eventually be fulfilled; if not, they will be stored away in the "warehouse of good intentions". There must be a "first-step" which we all know can be the hardest. This woman had to overcome her nothingness and what she lacked to become what God wanted her to be and what God wanted her to do. This woman didn't look at the little bit of oil in her jar as a blessing, but as a curse. How many times do we do the same thing when we look at our spiritual life? We look at what we could be or should be and fall into despair because of what we lack. But if she didn't have the little she would have never experienced the abundance. Do you view your spiritual life right now as a curse because of what you feel you are lacking? Don't look at what you don't have, look to the One who has it all. The "little" is a blessing, not a curse; there is an oak tree inside of an acorn. Questions to Consider: 1. If you feel stagnant in your spiritual life right now, what are some steps you can take today to remove the idols that are sucking at your spiritual life to be filled with more of the Holy Spirit? 2. Do you know someone who feels like they are living in a spiritual desert today? Would you reach out to them and remind them of the blessing of the "little"?
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