What is your response when you face an overwhelming and, from our perspective, a an impossible situation? There is story in the Old Testament about a woman who faced a heartbreaking tragedy:

Now a 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 has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” (2 Kings 4:1)

This woman had lost her husband and now she is in danger of losing her children. In her desperation she cried out to Elisha, who was a man of God. Elisha determined what her resources were and then he gave specific instructions:

So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go, borrow containers elsewhere for yourself, empty containers from all your neighbors—do not get too few. Then you shall come in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour into all these containers; and you shall set aside what is full.” (2 Kings 4:2-4)

As we read Elisha’s instructions to the widow, we think, “This does not make sense to me.” There will be times as you read the Bible and you may think, “This does not make sense to me.” We may be facing an overwhelming situation and we’re faced with a choice. We can either trust in our pragmatic and finite understanding or we can follow God’s sovereign wisdom. Thomas Aquinas observed, “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” The widow did not understand the reason for collecting the empty containers, but she faithfully followed Elisha’s enigmatic instructions:

So she left him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they began bringing the containers to her, and she poured the oil. When the containers were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.” But he said to her, “There are no more containers.” Then the oil stopped. (2 Kings 4:5-6)

She learned that God’s provision is proportional to our faith and obedience. There will be situations in our lives when our resources seem inadequate to meet the need, but we must not lose hope. You plus God equals a majority. Elisha then gave the solution:

So she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.” (2 Kings 4:7)

Faith is the link that connects our weakness to God’s strength. We need to trust in God and bring our empty vessels to Him – and bring not too few.

Rick Higgins

Associate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark