Staff Writer - Audrey Linton
There is an incredible story in the Bible about a widow who had bailiffs knocking at her door because she couldn’t pay her debts. These bailiffs threatened her and said that they would take her sons as slaves if she didn’t pay up! (2 Kings chapter 4)
Now if any of you have had bailiffs knocking on your door, I am told they will come up with lots of threats and false accusations just to get you to pay up. In fact the truth was that they had no legal right to take her sons and her creditors could not compel her sons to be slaves.
Obviously this woman started to panic – she had no one to support her. Her deceased husband had got the family into massive debt and her sons were probably not at the age where they could fend for themselves. I suppose I would be panicking too! So she sought guidance from the Prophet Elisha about what she should do.
Elisha was a no nonsense matter of fact kind of guy and as she had told him her story he asked, ‘What is in your house?’
‘Now what’s that got to do with anything?’, the widow must have thought. She responded “I have absolutely nothing! Nothing! Just a small jar of olive oil.
‘OK, go and borrow some large jars, jugs and bowls from your neighbours, borrow as much as you possibly can.’
Now I can see the confusion on the widow’s face – can you?
Photo courtesy libcom.org
‘So prophet Elisha you are telling me to go and borrow large jars from my neighbours? OK – I will do it, I may not understand it but I trust you!’
So both her and her sons rallied round and collected as many bowls, jars and jugs as possible and came into their home, shut the door and started to pour the oil from the small jar into all the vessels until they were full.
How amazing, how could a small jar of oil – perhaps 50ml or so, fill all those containers? The oil just kept coming! Anyway, let’s continue.
When she realised what was happening she asked her sons to go and get some more vessels, but they responded that there was none left. As they had no more jugs, then the oil stopped.
Elisha told her to sell the oil in the vessels, pay her debts and she and her sons should live on the rest of the earnings from the sale.
There are 4 principles that I learn from this story especially in times of hardship and lack.
1. Don’t Panic
The situation is not as bad as you think! There is always a solution.
2. Consider what you have in your house?
The solution usually lies in what you already possess. Your house could mean your domain or where you live, but more so it may mean what do you already have inside of you? What gifts, talents, skills do you have that you are not tapping into? Draw on your intellectual, emotional and personal capital.
3. Connect the oil with the vessel
The vessels on their own had little value, when vessels meet oil they have great value. Theologically speaking oil is usually a representation of the ‘Holy Spirit’. Spirit means ‘breath’ or ‘life’. The oil could not take on life form until it was connected with a vessel. When God made Adam, he did not take on life form until God breathed into him and he became a living soul.
What stops the oil connecting with the vessel in your life? Busyness, not listening, complacency. The list goes on. In the widow’s case if she did not take the initiative and ask for help then she would not have been able to accumulate the resources necessary to sell her product.
4. Don’t give to others what you should be doing
Your vision may not be someone else’s vision. Elisha told the widow to go and collect the jars. The widow sent her sons. When she asked for more jars, they said there was no more so the oil stopped. There are times when we are divinely prompted to go and do things, or start a new initiative or business. However there are 101 excuses that come to mind:
I have no talent, no skills, no resources, no money, no worth, no value! Someone else can do it better than I.
Finding the vessels usually take a leap of faith. I believe that if the widow used her creativity she would have found more vessels and the oil would still be flowing.
Believe it or not you already have the 50 ml jar of oil, but what vessel are you being prompted to find right now?
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