Gtcotr/ws020724
What does a person do when they have done all they can, and it’s just not enough? What do you do when hard work, good advice, right living didn’t fix it? How can we change the inevitable?
Mark 10:27 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”
2 Kings 4 contains the account of a woman with a desperate need. There was nothing more she could do. She and her family were in a difficult situation, and it wasn’t her fault. She never expected to be in such need. Things had gone downhill quickly. Good people in a bad place.
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.
4 “And when you have come in,
you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those
vessels, and set aside the full ones.”
5 So she went from him and
shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her;
and she poured it out.
6 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 ceased.
7 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.”
Some
of the principles we have reviewed so far include:
·
God will never ask us to do what we cannot do.
·
Prescriptions from God are like recipes for success.
·
Don’t let anyone talk you out of a miracle.
· Full vessels limit God.
This evening we will review the fact that:
What we do with the little we have is what we will do with more.
This truth is confirmed by Jesus as recorded in:
Luke 16 NKJV
10 “He who is faithful
in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what
is least is unjust also in much.
11 “Therefore if you have not
been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true
riches?
12 “And if you have not been
faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?
13 “No servant can serve two
masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be
loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
14 Now the Pharisees, who
were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.
15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
The Pharisees were lovers of money, not lovers of God. They justified themselves before men but were actually an abomination in the sight of God.
The woman we have been studying in 2 Kings 4 was just the opposite. She showed her dependence on God when she had nothing as well as when she had abundance.
In verse 1 she went to ask the prophet what to do when she only had a little jar of oil. In verse 7 she went back to the prophet to ask what to do when she had a house full of oil. She knew she was no better off rich than she was poor if she wasn’t pleasing God.
She still needed God. You think a little jar of oil can be troublesome … think of how much trouble a whole house full of oil could cause you!
Moses cautioned the children of Israel to not forget God once they received their miracle. (Deuteronomy 6:12) Don’t forget God!
The more we have, the closer we need to be to God.
It is clear from this account that God intended for the woman and her sons to enjoy life. The priority for God is always to set us free and bless us with abundance. Each account from Joseph, the son of Jacob, and his time in Egypt, young David hiding from Saul, to the jailer in Philippi, God sets the captives free and blesses them beyond their need.
The prophet Elisha told the woman: “Pay your debt” first, and then “you and your sons live on the rest.”
What you do with what you have shows who you are and what you believe.
Conclusion:
·
What
do you need God to do for you? Ask Him.
·
How
can you participate with God? Do it.
·
When
the miracle happens, put it back into God’s hands.
·
Don’t
allow God’s blessings to make you forget God.
·
Blessings
belong to God.
