“Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but 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 have you in the house?" And she said, "Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil." Then he said, "Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside." So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "There is not another." Then the oil stopped flowing. She came and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest."”
2 Kings 4:1-7 ESV
Afternoon!!
So I think I’ll be brief here. Lol. I’m typing on my iPhone and it’s my break time at work. But this hit me so I have to share.
I’m listening to Kingdom Woman by Tony Evans. I’ve had to replay some of the chapters because the book is so rich. So I’m back listening to chapter 3 and during it, he references Elisha and the widow with the oil. I’m sure you’ve heard this story a thousand times before like me and maybe you didn’t miss this — rather, I didn’t miss it but I needed to hear it emphasized today.
In the portion above that I italicized, it is there that Elisha tells her to close the door behind her after she’s gathered the jars and she subsequently follows through. It’s important to note that her miracle being released was contingent upon her closing the door.
How many times do we miss the miracle we need because we didn’t follow directions? Because we didn’t cut someone off, end a relationship, stay quiet until we were released to share, or in some way follow the explicit directions God gave us for resolving an issue?
The widow closing the door is symbolic of her accepting the word as her solution. Her recourse was losing her sons which was not an option to her. Her obedience enacted the miracle working power of the Holy Ghost to increase the abundant capacity of the oil to fill all the jars she had gathered. It had to be so much oil that she was able to retire off of it. She shut out her neighbors, who were probably wondering why she needed the jars or how she would take care of her and her sons. She shut out doubts, fears, anxiety, and anything that would prevent her from taking care of the dilemma she faced. She was adamant and determined. Are you there yet? Have you decided things must work out? Have you decided you must trust God because everything you know and love depends on it?
Now think about that. She could have questioned Elisha but instead she rested in the decree he gave her from God. Have you ignored God’s word? Or have you accepted it as the final say? I won’t say there is a problem with questioning God because I’ve done it lots. The problem is refusing to follow directions to the point you miss the miracle you sought.
What or who do you need to close the door on?
Life Inspired By God 