Have you ever been in a situation that is quite hopeless? This passage tells us of a woman in a very difficult situation, but God opened a way out for her. He did a miracle through a prophet. God had a plan even in a hopeless situation. God had a way even when there seem to be no way.
A woman had two sons. Her late husband was a man who revered God. He was "from the company of the prophets" (v.1) - the school of the prophets - trains them to serve as priests and prophets. Apparently the family went through some hard time and must have borrowed large amount of money. Now her husband has died and she was unable to repay the loan. The creditor wanted to take her two sons away as his slaves. She did not know what to do.
Her situation seemed hopeless until she saw prophet Elisha. She cried out to him, not because she believe Elisha can give her money - prophets are not rich, and it is obvious that Elisha couldn’t help her - but in her times, prophets are spokesmen for God. Her late husband was a prophet, so she wanted to seek God’s help. She wanted to ask God for answers to her problem. What must she do?
Elisha looked at her and said, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house." God has a plan and He revealed it to Elisha.
The first thing Elisha does, is to point the woman to look at her own resources. What can she offer? Elisha did not say, let me see how much money I have in my bank account, or let me go around and raise some funds, or ask the neighbours to donate. Instead he said, "Tell me what do you have in your house?".
God is going to do a miracle. But He wants us to offer what we have. God can actually create something out of nothing. He created the world that way. Yet very often we read in Scriptures, God wants us to offer him what we have and when we do so, we see miracles. God wants us to exercise faith, and participate in His works.
· John 2:6-7 - Wedding Feast - no wine - nearby stood 6 stone water jars…Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water".
· John 11:39 - Jesus was about to called Lazarus out of the grave - He asked the people to move the stone away from the tomb.
· Mark 6:38 - feeding of >5000 people - Jesus asked, "What do you have?"- 5 loaves and 5 fish.
Now the woman could have gotten angry with Elisha. Here she was coming to him for help and he was asking her what does she have in her home. Of course she don’t have enough. If she had something, she would not have to come to Elisha in the first place. She could have said, "Brother, I don’t have anything. There is nothing there at all."
But that was not her attitude. She wanted to do anything she can and offer everything she had. So she gave a thought and said, "Oh yeah, I do have a little oil left that’s used for cooking and lighting the house." She may have expected Elisha to give her some money, but instead, she was given some instructions on what she would have to do.
3 Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbours for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few.
4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side."
Did she do as was told? Yes. 4:5 - She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring.
This is FAITH in action… If you believe this is the Word of God, then she must act in obedience. In fact, both her sons were involved in carrying the jars. They did not ridicule Elisha for this absurd instruction because they believed the word of the prophet.
God wants us to experience His miracles in our lives, but God wanted us to put our faith in His Word. We must exercise faith. Performing the miracle is no problem to God, but He wanted man to have faith in Him, in His Word, in His Ways and do according to His instruction.
Very often, we pray for the situation to change. We wanted God to solve our problem, but we are not willing to do as God says. Through the Word, we received certain instructions - some things we need to do or change, but we are unwilling to obey. And therefore failed to experience the miracle that God has planned for us. We cannot believe, or we are unwilling to do as was told.
Later on in 2 Kings 5:1-14 - there was this commander of the army of Aram Naaman. He was a valiant soldier and highly respected, but he had leprosy. He came to Elisha for help, but Elisha did not even come out of his house to greet him. Elisha sent a messenger: "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed." But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.
5:12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage.
13Naaman’s servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ’Wash and be cleansed’!" 14So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
Can God heal Naaman without him doing anything - to "come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy." - YES! But God wanted man to exercise our faith.
Faith without works is dead. Jesus cannot do anything for you, if you’re not willing to do what Jesus tells you to do in your situation. You can’t pray for good results in exam without studying at all. You can’t pray for good health and no eat well or sleep well or exercise well. It all depends on how much you really believe Him - because if you truly do, you’ll do everything He says.
This woman and her sons did. And it is not a simple task - Elisha said, "Don’t ask for a few." - get as many jars as you possibly can get. They would have to go to several neighbours again and again. Some may be far away. And there are some who do not have any or would not want to lend them. This thing could take a long time. It is FAITH in action - doing it even when they do not fully understand how it is going to work.
This woman had faith that God had a plan. Jesus said, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ’Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matt 17:20).
In faith she and her young boys collected the jars. In faith she closed the door. In faith she began to pour the oil from her jar into one of the empty ones. The empty jar filled up, but the jar she was pouring from did not run dry.
Notice, she had just a little oil in a small jar, and God used it to solve her big problem. The boy had only 5 loaves and 2 fished and God used it to feed a big crowd. We don’t always need to have a big account in the bank to do great things for God. The little we have, if we trust Him and offer it to Him, God will use it.
She kept pouring and pouring, and her sons kept bringing one jar after another. Until all the jars were full, and the oil stopped flowing. 4:7 - She went to Elisha and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left."
Look how God blessed them. They trusted God and He helped them, not only to pay the debts but more - "You and your sons can live on what is left." We do not know how much this is, but at the end of the day, they had more than what they ask for.
It happened with the feeding of 5000 - 5 loaves and 2 fishes - at the end, 12 basketfuls of leftover (Mark 6:43).
CONCLUSION
Seek God for help. Pray and ask God to intervene in our problem. Read the Word and obey Him.
God is never caught without a clue how to solve a problem. He always has a plan. When we are at the end of our road, we turn to Him... Take the step of faith and walk on... and realised there is a way out. To God, it is not the end of the road but the beginning of a new way.
If you’re trying to make sense out of your life today, or what’s going on at work, or how you’re going to get out of mess you find yourself in, then know, God has a plan. Isa 59:1 "Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear."
Dear friends, God loves you. His desire is to bless man with abundant life on earth and eternal life with Him. The first step you need to take is to get into a right relationship with God by receiving Jesus Christ as our Saviour. Jesus came from heaven into this world, to show us who God is and die eventually on a cross - paying the penalty for our wrongs. Believe Jesus today, and man will be reconciled with God, and restored in our relationship as His children.
