The Widow's Oil

2 Kings 4:1-7

"Faith makes things possible; it does not make them easy." - Vernie W. Reed

A woman tells the prophet, Elisha, that her husband who was a faithful servant to him has died and that a creditor is threatening to take his two sons. Elisha asks, "How can I help? What do you have in your house? That second question raises a point. Significance is found in what we do have! So often in our struggles and trial we overlook what we do have and focus only on what we need (or don't have).

Elisha wanted the woman to see what she had and to allow God to use them. In the passage we discover that she still has her house, her two sons, a little bit of oil, and her neighbors. He instructs her to go to her neighbors and collect empty jars, then go into her house with her sons and pour what oil she had into those collected empty jars.

The widow did as she was told. "She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring." When all the jars were filled with oil her sons told her they had no more jars and the "little bit of oil" in the original container stopped flowing. When the woman told Elisha this, he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left."

What a wonderful story of faith, hope, and provision. In the front of my Bible I wrote this quote a long time ago:

There are no limits with God.

His resources are far beyond your abilities.

Never say, "I can't" without saying, "He can."

Never feel you are weak without knowing that He is strong.

THERE ARE NO LIMITS!

You will never have to hold back because of fear,

for He is with you . . .

You will never have to be defeated,

because His victory is yours . . .

You will never have to settle for the ordinary,

because His life is extraordinary.

- Roy Lessin