A Little Becomes Much

2 Kings 4:1-7 - "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.”

Here is a widow of a prophet who is destitute and Elisha comes to her aid. The first thing I see here is that she asked for help. She asked help from someone she knew and someone she knew could help her. When we are in trouble the first thing we must do is seek help. God wants to use your brother or sister to help you in your time of need. Don't be ashamed or hide your need. Yes, God is the first person we should go to, but often God wants to meet your need through others.

Secondly, we see God uses the little we have. God doesn't need much to make a miracle happen in our lives. He can take the little we have and make much out of it. It may be the little faith, the little ability, the little possessions, the little desire or dream, or the little ministry. 

Yet, for God to use the little we have, there are certain things we must do. We must be honest about our situation as the widow in this story. We must recognize what we have, a little oil. We must be obedient to the word of the Lord. Her obedience came out faith. If she didn't have faith she would never have gone around asking for empty jars. She stepped out on faith and used the little she had. James says, faith without actions is dead. God wants us to participate in our provision. When all the jars were full, she went back to the man of God, and asked for further direction. We must continually go back to the Lord for guidance on the way. We can't live on old bread (Word of the Lord).

Finally, we see the widow woman prepared for the provision of God. God wants to meet your need, but sometimes we or God need to prepare us for the provision.