“LITTLE TO WORK WITH?”

I love the story of Elisha helping the Poor Widow in chapter 4 of Second Kings (NLT).  The woman came to the Prophet announcing that her husband had died and a creditor was going to take her two sons as slaves to pay the debt.  

Without becoming caught up in her emotions, Elisha asked, “What do you have?”

She replied, “Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil.”

His instructions were simple.   Begin borrowing as many empty jars as she could find.  Next, after the three of them were in privacy, begin filling the jars with oil.  By the time, she and her sons ran out of empty jars the oil stopped flowing.  The widow had enough oil to sell pay the creditor and live on the profits left over. 

In the Bible, God often used oil as a symbol for the Holy Spirit.  How many times do we as men walk around full of ourselves refusing to come to God to ask for help.  His all powerful enabling Holy Spirit waits eager help us if we’ll simply come to Him like one of those empty jars.  

Instead, we too often, run others for help or try to buy tools that won’t solve our problem.  All the while, His still small voice is calling us to empty ourselves.  Then He asks, “What we have to work with?”   Holy Spirit can then take these ordinary accouterments of this life and empower them to become EXTRA-ordinary tools in our hands.   “EMPTY?  What do you have to work with?”