Have you ever been in a difficult situation where you tried everything and nothing worked to resolve the situation? What did you do once you exhausted your ideas?
II
Kings 4:1-7 The wife of a man from the company of the
prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know
that he revered the Lord. But
now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you
have in your house?”
“Your
servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty
jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside
and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as
each is filled, put it to one side.”
5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They
brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When
all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
But
he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell
the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
I
love how God, through Elisha, included the widow and her two sons in the
solution! They participated and then enjoyed a greater blessing watching the
miracle unfold!
When
you and I pray for a need, do we ask God to just snap His finger and fix it, or
do we ask how He wants to use us in the solution? How will you and I take our
frantic requests to our Faithful God, looking for ways He might use us in the
solution?
Alice
