What You Do Have?

WHAT YOU DO HAVE

2 Kings 4:1-7

No one has everything they need. This applies to both the natural and spiritual realms. No one is perfect yet. We all have problems and experience lack in some way.

Everyone has areas of weakness. But if we focus on our insufficiencies, we won’t recognize and appreciate what we do have.

When some people encounter stressful situations, they never look at what they have because they panic and eventually look to outside resources to supply their need.

They say things like “I don’t have enough,” or “I can’t help so-and-so with money because I don’t have any.” They don’t realize that doing this only keeps them right where they are—still in lack.

Dr Dan Cheatham said, “Until LACK becomes despicable to you and until you view LACK as a wicked evil thing from the pit of hell, you will continue to tolerate it. One must view Lack & Poverty as a dirty thing, the same way they view sin. Ask anyone living in a third world underdeveloped country if there is one good thing they can say about poverty and lack. Lack causes starvation, bankruptcy, failure, and only brings stress! Lack robs human dignity and creativity.”

Look at your neighbor and tell them: " Its time to break the back of lack"

When you break the back of something you do something in order to make it weaker so that it is destroyed after a time. i.e. its getting over something that seems to be the most difficult part of a task.

Many of us have been conditioned to be "lack minded" or "broke minded" without even realizing it. This propensity (inclination or natural tendency to behave in a particular way) toward being overpowered by the thought of not having, is a hard habit to break.

To be broke minded, or to have a broke mindset, means to live your life with the constant fear and acknowledgement that you don't have enough, or will run out of something.

What Do You Have?

The woman mentioned here in the 2 Kings 4:1-4 story was more than a little stressed out. Her husband, who was in debt, had died and left her to face the creditors. In those days, if a person couldn’t pay what was owed, his children could be taken as slaves to work off the debt. This widow had two sons, and she wasn’t about to see them forced to pay what their deceased father owed. Since her husband had been part of the school of prophets led by Elisha, she poured out her situation to him. She certainly went to the right person. Elisha’s name means “God is my salvation.” Although she didn’t specifically ask for help, Elisha immediately responded, "I wonder how I can be of help. Tell me, what do you have in your house?" "Nothing," she said. "Well, I do have a little oil."

That sounds like God our Salvation, doesn’t it? Except He knows our needs before we even ask, and He’s ready to step into the middle of our serious circumstances.

The distraught woman only focused on her lack. The little oil that she had. But the first thing Elisha asked her was, “What do you have?” (v. 2 NKJV).

Notice, her immediate response was that she had “nothing at all.” Then she added that she had a little oil. If the woman had oil, then she also had a container to keep it in.

It’s interesting what we miss when all we can see is impossibility. When God our Salvation encourages you to take another look, don’t look for nothing. Look for the little bit of oil and see the container that holds it. That could be the beginning of hope that brings you out of desperation.

Years prior to this event, Elijah, Elisha’s mentor, had had an encounter with another widow during a time of drought and famine. She was down to her last drop of oil. The Lord intervened and miraculously kept the flow of oil going until the famine ended.

Why would God perform a one-handed miracle for one widow but make another one work so hard by borrowing vessels and selling the oil? Possibly because the first widow was a victim of circumstances completely out of her control—an area-wide famine and drought. The second widow was obligated to pay off a debt her husband had incurred.

The Lord wants us to assume responsibility for situations we create. He’s more than willing to work on our behalf if we’re willing to work with Him. Participation creates appreciation.

Elisha instructed the widow to borrow vessels from her neighbors, indicating her situation would be temporary, not permanent. She was to borrow—not beg to keep. He wanted her to rise above a possible “woe-is-me” drama and act with the expectation that her need would be met.