4 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.”
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The miracle performed by the prophet Elisha in 2 Kings 4:1-7 involved meeting the financial needs of a widow who's husband had formerly worked as a prophet with Elisha. I was reminded of this passage, during the COVID-19 pandemic, by a friend of ours who wrote her own devotional about this. Summarizing the passage:
- She realized she was in a desperate situation. The creditors were on their way to seize her sons and to make them slaves because with her husband's passing she had no income.
- She reached out for help from a godly man, a man she trusted.
- The prophet Elisha asks her two questions that sound a lot like the questions Jesus asked of people who came to him, requesting help:
- "How can I help you?"
- "Tell me what do you have in your house?"
- The widow offers what she has, a small jar of oil.
- She obeys the prophet when he says to go around to your neighbors and ask them for empty jars, and don't ask for just a few.
- He also instructs her to then close the door of her house and pour the oil she have into the empty jars.
- The empty jars are all filled, there is enough oil to sell to pay all the debts owed and to provide income for her and her children to live on.
The circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic are creating all sorts of hardships: economic; physical; emotional; and spiritual health. This passage provides a model for us to follow, as we feel the world closing in on us, like it was for the widow. Express our needs to God and to the godly people we trust. Listen to the questions God is asking of us. He invites us to ask for His help, and He asks us what we have available for Him to use. Even what we think is not much can be used by God and multiplied. Those who are close to us can be a part of the miracle God will perform. Elisha commands the widow to close the door to her house, thus only those committed to obeying Elisha's instructions get to observe the miracle. Lastly, God's provision is anything but meager. He fills every jar the widow and her children can find.
So if we cry out to God during these times, and remember the times in the past when God has met our needs and reflect on stories like this from the Bible, we'll find that God can abundantly provide for us.
