Gtcotr/ws011724
We often hear of someone getting something they wanted as a result of something they did. This is especially true in the world of weight loss. For example, when people hear a true account of someone losing 10 pounds in 10 days just because they didn’t eat between 6pm and noon for 10 days … it’s the talk of the town and loads of people try it for themselves. People are prone to try what worked for others in all arenas of life from money to marriage, and health to happiness. Testimonies are powerful. The Bible says so.
At other times we get our own ideas and decide that we are going to do something extra. Even though no one else has inspired us we decide to give extra, get up earlier, volunteer time, get a new hobby, or go to Church. These offerings are what we give to the equation of life in hopes to make things better for ourselves and others. And, if it works for us … it will become a testimony and soon we will be spreading the word and others will be challenged to try it.
Still, above testimonies, above offerings, there are those times when we need a prescription … something tailored just for us … something prescribed by someone who knows more than we do and are on our side, trying to help us conquer an enemy or achieve what we want. Prescriptions can be very valuable. In fact I dare to imagine that a majority of the people reading the notes or listening to me right now have at least one prescription they take on a regular basis. And most are probably working.
We are familiar with doctors giving prescriptions, but we may not be as acutely aware of the fact that God gives prescriptions too. In our Study of the Miraculous series, we are going to focus our attention on the prescription God gave the widow of 2 Kings 4 through the Prophet Elisha. Let’s go to 2 Kings 4 now.
2 Kings 4 NKJV
1 ¶ 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 to take my two sons to be his slaves.”
2 So Elisha said to her,
“What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she
said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”
3 Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors — empty vessels; do not gather just a few.”
Each step in this miracle is essential for success.
Prescriptions from God are like recipes for success. Step by step instructions, each one important in its time to the overall outcome. Leave out a step or stray from the prescribed instructions and it will alter the outcome.
Allow
me to cover the obvious first before we delve into the less observable elements
of this miracle. Beginning with verse 3:
·
Go …
o Two-thirds of God is
go.
o Go and do are the most
often required ingredients for success, even in the miraculous.
o God demands we
participate in our miracles and when we are not sufficiently motivated to go
and do, we often fall short of what God was willing to do in our lives.
o There are many reasons
why people don’t prefer to go and do. Most of the time it is because it
requires effort and the unknown. In other words – faith and works.
o When we go and do, we
are demonstrating faith by our works.
·
Borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your
neighbors …
o Remember, this is a
testimony. It is a description of what God did in this woman’s situation, not a
prescription for you.
o We cannot know for
certain. However, it is easy for me to imagine this woman who had waited until
the very last to ask for help from the prophet, might have had a problem with
pride.
o God resists the proud
… so don’t be afraid to ask Him for help.
o Perhaps the
requirement to borrow vessels had something to do with humbling herself.
o It is also reasonable
to assume that some of the neighbors may have asked her why she needed all
their empty vessels. This would have provided a testimony before the fact … a
statement of faith.
o Sometimes statements
of faith lock us into finishing the course.
·
Empty vessels …
o There is such
potential in an empty vessel.
o Every full vessel has
reached their potential.
o Have you ever opened a
closet or a storage room only to realize that you cannot get one more thing in
there.
o Unless a lake or a jar
or a person is being emptied, pouring out by some means, then it is only
storing and there is a shelf life to every vessel that is already full.
o God loves empty
vessels.
o We should be
constantly in need of refilling our lives because we are constantly pouring out
from the abundance God has given.
o Don’t beat yourself up
because you find yourself empty one more time. You’ve just been being a good
soldier …
·
Do not gather just a few …
o This is the most
interesting part of these instructions to me.
o This is where God
opens up the miracle to be as big as the woman can envision.
o She could gather all
of the empty vessels she wanted …
o The instructions
included “do not gather just a few.”
o We don’t want to limit or waste a miracle.
God is always thinking bigger than we are thinking. He is not only wanting to meet our need for today. He wants to bless us and to make us a blessing to others.
God has a plan to meet your need and He also has a plan for your abundance.
Have
faith for your offerings. Testimonies can inspire and motivate us to act.
However, make certain to follow the prescription God has given you.
