2 Kings 4: 1-7: “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.” 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 except a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, even empty vessels; do not get a few. 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.” So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing the vessels to her and she poured. When 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. 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 can live on the rest.” (NASB1995)
The story of Elisha and the widows oil is so interesting and encouraging. The widow obeys the directions of the Lord through Elisha. To further understand what was going on, the widow’s husband was dead. She owed a debt. According to mosaic law it was rightful for the creditor to come and take her two sons as slaves as a means pay off the debt. Relating this to today, imagine if you lost your spouse and your children were the payment for slave labor for the debt. The widow in this story must have felt such despair. There was nothing she could do as she didn’t have the means to pay the debt.
Have you ever been in a hopeless situation with no physical way of seeing things through? You have tried but to no avail and you are left hopeless. This is what the widow must have felt like when speaking to Elisha. Now look what happens, the widow obeys and does what she is told in faith. She goes and gathers the vessels in with her sons all the while having barely any oil herself. Imagine how she must have felt. The sons were gathering the vessels all the while having barely any oil at home. They had to expect the miracle and believe God for something great. They had to expect that somehow God would make use of these vessels and that God would do the miraculous. This is a classic example of faith without works being dead (Ref. James 2:18). Saying it again for effect: FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD. The widow had to be obedient and follow through in what she was directed to do.
Today, ask yourself and examine yourself. In the Bible, David, would pray that the Lord would show him any offensive way in him. (Ref. Psalm 139:24). Are you obeying all that God is showing you? Are you waiting on God for a miracle and holding back from what the Lord has shown you to do? Are you not jumping in the deep end because of fear? The widow could have said this is stupid when Elisha told her what to do, gathering all those vessels when she had barely any oil. What was going to happen with those vessels? But with God, nothing is wasted. He sees the obedience and does the miraculous. Obedience leads to blessing. Faith WITH works is the conduit by which we see the breakthrough. God is in the “working” of it.
Has God directed you to do something? Has He directed you to move forward with something but you have been dragging your feet? First and foremost, if you haven’t heard from the Lord and learned to discern His voice don’t be discouraged. We all need to learn this daily. Spend more and more time in the Bible, consider fasting, and ramp up your time with Him. Through personal relationship with the Lord it becomes easier to discern His voice! So if God has been speaking to you about something and you haven’t made the choice to move forward and take steps, let today be the day you do it. The widow didn’t see the miracle right away. But in the PROCESS of gathering the vessels God was working something fabulous. God does the miraculous but wants to see our faith “working”. The walls of Jericho didn’t fall right away. It took seven times. Naaman wasn’t healed right away, he had to go to the Jordan River and dip in it 7 times for his healing. Sometimes things aren’t automatic. God wants to see our faith working towards the promise and in expectation that He can do the miraculous. The widow gets the vessels and then begins to pour the oil over and over again as it kept flowing. The miracle right in front of her eyes taking place. She had enough to fill every vessel she received when she barely had any oil in the first place. WOW! What a miracle. Elisha then tells her to sell the oil to pay her debt and whatever was left to live on it. The interesting part here is that the oil conveniently stopped flowing when the widow ran out of vessels. As many vessels that were gathered is what she saw the miracle in. Matthew 25:29 says “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but to the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.” (NASB1995). Just like the parable of the talents where Jesus was speaking of the slaves that gathered in more talents we see a similar story with the widow’s oil. If she was to not gather in the vessels she would have been like the slave in Matthew 25 that failed to do anything with the talent he received … “but to the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.” Instead the widow did something and gathered the vessels just like those whom brought back more talents in Matthew 25. From this Jesus spoke of everyone that has that more shall be given and that there would be an abundance.
The widow saw the miracle because she acted in faith and obedience. She didn’t give up. And I firmly believe she would have been given more if she gathered even more vessels in. God is in the working of it. Sometimes we are to sit and wait completely and see the salvation of the Lord. But sometimes we are required to work! Be encouraged today that while you wait on your miracle that God is faithful. Don’t give up! God comes through!
May His Name be praised!