Your Miracle Is Right In Your Hands
The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves"
Elisha replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?"
"Your servant has nothing there at all," she said, "except a small jar of olive oil."
Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. 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."
She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one." But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing.
She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left." (2 Kings 4:1-7)
Elisha replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?"
"Your servant has nothing there at all," she said, "except a small jar of olive oil."
Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. 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."
She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one." But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing.
She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left." (2 Kings 4:1-7)
One of my favorite statements in scripture is that those who put their trust in God will never be put to shame. Particularly in Joel 2:26, the Bible says, "You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed." God will never allow the faces of His faithful children to be covered in shame. Here's the wife of a prophet whose dead husband had faithfully served God and who was now facing the prospect of her two sons being hauled off into slavery because of a family debt. But God came through for her. God did not allow her to experience shame.
What I find fascinating about the miracle that saved her situation was the question Elisha posed to her, and the widow's response to him, "How can I help you? Tell me what do you have in your house?" "Your servant has nothing at all" she said "except a small jar of oil." In the eyes of the widow, she had nothing except a small jar of oil, but out of that nothingness right in her house was a miracle waiting to happen. Her miracle was sitting right in her house!
Sometimes we cry out to God for help but the the answer might be right in our hands. When Moses cried out to God for the Red Sea to be parted, God asked him a simple question: ". . . Why are you crying out to me? . . . Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground." (Exodus 14:15-16) God was simply telling Moses that the solution to the problem was right in his own hands.
As you look for solutions to challenges you may have, ask God to open your eyes to the resources you already have at hand. It could well be that the solution to your problem or even predicament is right in your own hands or house. Never overlook the potential you have right in your hand. It could generate untold resources and solutions to help many. What you might overlook as too simple might well be the catalyst to turn your situation around.
What I find fascinating about the miracle that saved her situation was the question Elisha posed to her, and the widow's response to him, "How can I help you? Tell me what do you have in your house?" "Your servant has nothing at all" she said "except a small jar of oil." In the eyes of the widow, she had nothing except a small jar of oil, but out of that nothingness right in her house was a miracle waiting to happen. Her miracle was sitting right in her house!
Sometimes we cry out to God for help but the the answer might be right in our hands. When Moses cried out to God for the Red Sea to be parted, God asked him a simple question: ". . . Why are you crying out to me? . . . Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground." (Exodus 14:15-16) God was simply telling Moses that the solution to the problem was right in his own hands.
As you look for solutions to challenges you may have, ask God to open your eyes to the resources you already have at hand. It could well be that the solution to your problem or even predicament is right in your own hands or house. Never overlook the potential you have right in your hand. It could generate untold resources and solutions to help many. What you might overlook as too simple might well be the catalyst to turn your situation around.
Prayer: Father, I thank you that you are able to take the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. Please help me never to overlook the potential of what I already possess but to trust you to multiply it into boundless resources and dividends to fund your kingdom. Amen.