Provision

June 20

2 Kings 3-4

Psalm 73:13-20

Proverbs 16:10-11

Acts 16:1-15

Provision

“Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, ‘Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared Yahweh; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.’  And Elisha said to her, ‘What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?’  And she said, ‘Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.’”  2 Kings 4:1-2 LSB 

This woman was the widow of one of the prophet Elisha’s students.  When he died, he did not leave adequate provision for his wife and sons.  We don’t know anything else about her.  We are not told her name, where she was from, or even her husband’s name. The widow came to Elisha and told him that she was afraid that her two children were going to be taken as slaves to pay her debts.  She was in a desperate situation.  She had lost her husband and was about to lose her sons as well so she did the only thing she knew to do.  She went to Elisha because she knew that he had access to God and she hoped that he would help her.  Elisha asked her what she had in the house.  He was trying to see what she had that he could work with to help her.  She explained to him that all she had was one jar of oil.  He told her to go to all of her friends and ask them to borrow empty containers, anything she could find and as many as she could find.  He told her specifically, “Do not get just a few.”  So she and her sons went to all their neighbors and collected jars and pots and any kind of container their neighbors would give them.  Elisha told her to pour the oil she had into the containers.  She must have been amazed as she kept pouring and pouring and pouring until all the containers were filled.  The oil stopped when she had filled the last container.  Elisha then instructed her to go and sell all the oil.  There was plenty to pay all of her debts and then to have enough extra for them to live on. 

The widow followed Elisha’s instructions exactly.  I’m sure what he told her didn’t make any sense.  She had to humble herself and go to all of her neighbors and ask them for help.  When they asked her why she needed the containers she couldn’t explain it to them because she didn’t understood herself.  And yet she obeyed.  She just did what she was told.  God takes whatever we have and multiplies it.  He can use even the smallest things that we are willing to give to Him and do far more than we can imagine.  He can use our time, money, talents, abilities, etc. for our good and His glory.  God provides for us abundantly.  He rarely does the bare minimum.  He usually far exceeds our expectations. The widow took her problem to Elisha first instead of trying to fix it on her own.  Elisha was her connection to God.  She was desperate and she knew where to go for help.  We are wise to take our problems to God before we try to “fix” them on our own.  He is our loving Father and He wants to take care of us and provide for our needs.