Nothing but a Jar of Oil

2 Kings 4:2 (NKJV) So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” (For deeper understanding read verses 1-7 of 1 Kings 4)

A common link nearly always exists between our needs and God’s answers – a thread woven into the fabric of our relationship with the Father. And in 2 Kings 4, this critical strand is clearly marked.

It starts when a woman, grieving over her husband's death and her resulting lack of financial stability, comes to the prophet Elisha requesting his help. A creditor was demanding payment for the debt she owed, threatening even to take her two sons as his slaves. Can you feel her desperation? Crying out. Unable to pay. In this moment of desperation, she learns a few lessons from the hand of God that we also can learn from even today.

Lesson one, recognize your resources. The woman was so focused on what she lacked that she had lost sight of what resources she already possessed. How much could she care for herself with what she already possessed? The truth is that God cares for us even more than we care for ourselves, and he wants us to recognize our resources that he has already provided.

Lesson two, get working. The woman not only needed to refocus on what she already possessed but then she had to get working with what she already had. She needed to stop waiting and get working. All of us are guilty of pointing out what we lack, our deficiencies. It is our rocking chair. We spend all of our energy on what we lack, and it gets us nowhere, we just rock in place. Instead we need to start working with the blessings that we already possess.

Lesson Three, God provides the miracle. Sometimes we miss a miracle that is right under our nose because we refuse to act in faith with that which we already possess. The woman in our story had a miracle just waiting for her but she had to act. Taking the jar and using the oil released the miracle that God had already prepared for her.

Take a moment and reflect on what miracle is waiting to be released in your life. Start by considering any "jars of oil" that you could be overlooking in your life. Once you've identified those, get working with it in faith, and God will provide the miracle. Remember He is the God of the impossible.