II Kings 4:1-7 tells the story about a Miracle of Multiplication. A widow woman sought the Prophet Elisha out. She was in a desperate situation. When you think about the status of women in the ancient world, you understand how important it was for them to be married, for them to have a husband. Women did not have the same status as men back then. She would have depended on a man to provide for her, and apparently her husband had racked up some debt before he passed away.
She had two sons. Perhaps they were young because she didn’t turn to them for help. She didn’t see them as a possible answer to her financial plight. According to the law, the sons could be forced into a life a servitude to pay off the late husband’s debtors. This widow woman was truly faced with a desperate situation. She had lost her husband. She had lost her income. She was facing the loss of her sons as they would become servants to pay off the debt. Can you imagine the intensity of emotion? There was no way she could work herself out of this tight spot; no way she could escape more painful loss on her own. Even if she could pay the debts, she wouldn’t be able to provide for her sons long-term.
The Prophet Elisha asked her what she had to work with. All she had was a little oil. It is interesting that before this widow woman experienced a miracle she was forced to face reality. She was forced to admit the emptiness of her condition.
Who knows how long she had staved off the creditors? Who knows what she had sold and done without in order to pay a few bills here and there. Who knows how far she had stretched the oil and how long she made it last? Maybe she had stretched what she had for months or longer, hoping in the process that she could figure out a solution to her problems. By this time, there was no more time. She had hit rock bottom. She was out of resources and out of options.
I want you to hear that she got desperate before her miracle came. I see throughout Scripture that desperation plus faith is often the making of a miracle.
Elisha told the widow woman to go to her neighbors and ask to borrow their empty oil jars. He told her to get as many empty oil jars as they would loan her. He said, “Don’t just ask for a few. Get all of the empty oil jars you can get.” What was happening is that Elisha was telling this woman, she needed to increase her capacity to receive a miracle from God. She needed lots of empty containers for God to fill. She needed to expand her thinking beyond the jars in her house.
I believe sometimes we have faith that is too small. I believe sometimes we are willing to settle for little when God wants to provide much. There are people who live with a poverty mentality in the physical sense, but I also believe there are people who live with a poverty mindset spiritually. They ask for a little because they don’t want to be a bother to God or because they think other people have bigger problems than they do and should be God’s priority or they ask for little because they don’t think they are worth a miracle of multiplication that could sustain them long-term.
Could it be that the making of a miracle is going to require an increase in our capacity to receive from God? The woman did as the prophet asked. By faith, he told her to pour the oil she had into one of the empty jars and then to keep pouring. She had to release what little she had in order for God to multiply it. Oh, the making of a miracle will involve our willingness to take action when we are directed by God to surrender everything we have to Him.
She filled every jar. The oil didn’t stop flowing until every jar had been filled. It was incredible. She went and told Elisha what happened and remember what he told her? Look at the end of verse 7: “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
The greatest miracle wasn’t that the oil never stopped until the jars were full. The greatest miracle in the story was that her desperate situation had been taken care of for good. She would have enough money after paying the creditors that she and her sons could live on what was left. That is incredible! What a miracle! Her momentary issues were solved, but her future was completely secured through a miracle of multiplication!
Let’s remind ourselves what was involved in the making of this miracle:
- Desperation
- Faith to release what she had
- An increase in her capacity to receive
- Multiplication and a secure future
Join me in believing for GREATER THINGS as we expect the miracle of God in response to our desperation and faith!
Pastor Melissa
