 Do you remember the story in II Kings 4 about the widow and the oil? Her husband had died while in debt, and the creditor was demanding payment. But there was no money, and he was about to take her two sons, to sell them as slaves to cover his losses.
She cried out to Elisha, who told her to do a strange thing. She was to go around to all her neighbors and ask for their empty jars. He urged her to ask for many jars, not just a few. God wanted to meet her need abundantly.
Then Elisha told the widow to do an even stranger thing. She was to shut the door, shutting the world outside. God was going to do something for her and her sons that cannot be explained or understood with our natural minds. In short, He caused a miracle to happen. Her little jar of oil – which was all she had – poured and continued to pour out until every one of the borrowed jars were filled. Only when there were no more empty jars did the oil stop flowing. She sold the oil, paid the debtor, and then lived with her sons on the money that was left.
This was a true experience, and God has several lessons for us in this story. I Corinthians 10:6 and 11 tells us that the things that happened to the Israelites during Old Testament times were written down as examples for us. We are to learn from them; either to avoid making the same mistakes they did, or to follow their good examples. It’s easy to recognize the mistakes God’s people made. But we should also recognize the right things they did.
In this case, the widow obeyed the prophet and did exactly what he told her to do. Was Elisha perfect? Of course not. But God had put him in Israel at that time in history to help His people.
|
by
Mary Carothers
Jesus is not only our Savior; He is also our Prophet, and soon coming King. In Luke 4:24 and Matthew 13:57 Jesus acknowledges that in his own home and town no prophet is accepted. But we can believe and trust all that He says in the Scriptures. God expects us to obey Christ – even when we don’t understand all of His words. When we do, we can trust God to help us in our times of need (see Phil. 4:19 and Heb. 4:15-16). God is pleased when we trust Him. He honors our faith, even when it is faltering. None of us start out with great faith; we try and stumble, try again and blunder, yet He wants us to keep trying. Each time we learn a little more, grow a little wiser, able to believe a little more.
I once thought that the age of miracles had  passed, but I was wrong. I have come to realize: God still does miracles. God has His plans and purposes that He wants to work out in each of our lives. Sometimes we want a miracle and are certain the Lord should provide one for us, but perhaps in our case, it is not His will at that time. Yet at other times a miracle is exactly what He wants to do. We don’t always know what God’s will is. He has told us in Isaiah 55 that His thoughts and ways are far beyond our understanding. It seems to me that the “bottom line” in life is that we always have to trust Him and His loving wisdom. He wants us to trust Him and to live by faith and not by sight (II Cor. 5:9).
Let’s trust our Lord in every area of our lives. Not only will this bring great peace to us (see Phil. 4: 6-7), it will also glorify Jesus.
|
What will Christmas mean to us this year? Probably many different things. But what does Jesus’ Father want Christmas to mean?
criticized. But we should not remain silent about our faith in who He is!
