Elisha and the Widow—She Always had Enough
A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming back to take my two sons to be his slaves.” So Elisha said to her,”What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in this house?” And she said,”Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors-empty vessels, do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons, then pour it into all these vessels and set aside the full ones.” So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her and she poured it out.
2 Kings 4: 1-5
Notice this poor woman sought out a man of God to help her. She was at the end of her own resources and the creditors were about to take her sons! Today, we may get our cars taken away, or our homes foreclosed on…but no one is going to come get our children for an unpaid debt, am I right? So, as you can imagine, she was desperate. And Elisha was available to help, and he was a man of God. In order to fight, she knew she needed God on her side.
Elisha did not condemn her for her debts nor did her try to get rid of her because her problem was too hard or he was too busy. He didn’t have the solution to her problem but he knew God did and he trusted Him. Obviously the widow was in great poverty and she didn’t have much. In fact, if you look at the above passage, all she had was some oil. She had sold all she had to attempt to pay off her debts. But for God, this was just enough for Him to bring deliverance to her . See, God told her, through Elisha, to borrow empty vessels and pour the oil into them. And she did.
God isn’t restricted by an amount of oil. He multiplied what she had to fill all the empty vessels. But she had to have the faith to believe He would come through or else she wouldn’t have done her part. She could have thought that was crazy and she would have never been delivered. She BELIEVED what God had told her.
Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full , that she said to her son,”Bring me another vessel”. And he said to her,”There is not another vessel.” So the oil stayed. (verse 6)
All the vessels were filled and the oil stayed only when there was not another single empty vessel. Yet these were enough to pass her and her children from bankruptcy into having abundance.
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 live on the rest.” (verse 7)
The oil was so much that she and her sons paid off their debt. They were delivered from their problem and she also gained a treasure. All because she sought the Lord’s deliverance and believed with her whole heart that He would come through for her. She went to God, poor and oppressed and she left rich and delivered.
What about you today? Are you in need? Do you need a miracle? All you have to do is call on Him and believe that no matter how big or how small, He can and will give you all the riches you desire and abundance from Heaven. His Word is full of stories like this one, of faith delivering people from awful situations. Just believe in Him and He will come through.
Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4
Do you know Him today? Or maybe you have just moved a little far from Him right now. If so, all you have to do is call on Him and He will answer. Just seek Him and He will be found. And if you haven’t been saved by asking Jesus into your heart, you can do so right now!
Just pray with me: Dear God, I am a sinner. I need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus is Your Son and You sent Him to die on the Cross for my sins. I have been set free! I ask that You come into my heart and save me, and walk with me forever. Thank You for everything! In Jesus’ name, amen.
