More than you could ask or imagine

More than you could ask or imagine
2 Kings 4
Elisha Helps a Poor Widow
1 One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”
2 “What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”
“Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied.
3 And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. 4 Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.”
5 So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. 6 Soon every container was full to the brim!
“Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons.
“There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.
7 When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”
Have you ever had the feeling that God just wasn’t on the job? That he wasn’t keeping promises in the Bible that you counted on to be true? Have you ever been disappointed in him? Bitter?
Are you blaming God for some sorrow or adversity that has happened that you don’t really think you deserve? Don’t be afraid to admit it! There are things in life that none of us really understands.
Romans 8:28, “Oh, God will work it for good,” is sometimes like putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound: it doesn’t always do the trick.

You came trusting God to supply all your needs, and it hasn’t exactly been fun. In fact, it’s getting kind of old to wonder each week if there is going to be enough money for food, for those unexpected illnesses that you have to pay the doctor for.

Your husband is working in a really low-class job, why hasn’t God given him a better job? After all, you gave up everything to serve him, didn’t you?
2King 4:1The 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."
Can you just see her, facing Elisha? “Your servant, my husband, served the Lord! You know him! He is your student! You know that he was a godly man. Now he’s dead!”
“Why has this calamity happened to me? Why didn’t the promises of prosperity to the righteous come true for me?
This women might of thought It’s not fair!” Have you ever thought that?
She lost a good husband, and now she was going to lose her sons to pay his debts, and they are going to become slaves! Someone else is going to own them like property!”
She had a valid complaint! She, no doubt, had supported her husband’s vision and his goals. She had been an efficient housewife. After his death she used up all their resources to pay their debts, and now she was reduced to nothing. There was nothing left!
Now the pathetic plead of this widow was that, not only had she lost her husband, now she’s going to lose her sons—her family. That was bad enough, but it meant something else. You see, it meant that in her old age, she would have no security. It was the sons who took care of their aged parents.
Elisha’s response to this woman rightly reflected God’s attitude. Now to 2 Kings 4:2: “Elisha replied to her, ‘How can I help you?’”
You see, he was sensitive, he was concerned, he was compassionate, he was willing to be involved, and so is God! He asked another question. He said, “Tell me, what you have in your house?" (2 Kings 4:2b)
This was an important question to ask. You see, this would be no government handout! God would use what she had to start with.
Saints, there’s a principle here that is supported all through Scripture. God multiplies what we surrender to him.
Remember when Moses was terrified about meeting Pharaoh and telling him to let Israel go, and God said, “What is that in your hand?” Moses’ shepherd’s staff became the rod of God, a symbol of God’s power.
Remember when Jesus fed the 5,000? He started with a little boy’s lunch, which he multiplied to feed a multitude of probably 10,000 people, because it was only 5,000 men that were counted.
God will use whatever we surrender to him, no matter how insignificant it seems.
Now, notice her answer. She says, "Your servant has nothing there at all … except a little oil" (2 Kings 4:2c).
All she had was olive oil. That was a very necessary commodity in that culture. They used it for food, for cosmetic, and for medicine. But she had so little—not even enough for herself, and so she disparaged what she had!
Do you ever do that? God says, “I want you to trust me—to live by faith. I want you to serve me. I want you to accomplish this task or finish this project.” And we answer, “How can I? I don’t have any talents! I don’t have any resources! I have nothing.”
But you see, God never made a “nothing.” He never did. He asks you to surrender whatever you have, and whatever you are and he’ll multiply it to accomplish what he has chosen for you to do.

You see, God doesn’t want us to be passive, but actively cooperating with him and depending on him. There is always a market for olive oil—all she needed was more! Now notice Elisha’s instructions. 2 Kings 4:3-4:
Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. 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."
Now, why did he tell her to do this? Why couldn’t the jar be multiplied, as well as the oil?
That would have been such a simple solution. One reason is that it required faith to go around to every neighbor and ask for empty jars.
It couldn’t have been easy! It took faith to obey Elisha. Was she nervous? Was she fearful that maybe it wouldn’t work?
Have you sometimes not told somebody you were praying about something because you were afraid it might not be answered, and then you didn’t want to look like God didn’t come through?
You see, it didn’t matter how she felt; she acted with her will to obey Elisha. Her boldness and her personal effort combined with her faith, and that’s always a necessity, .
Can’t you see her and her two boys as they as they hurried from house to house, asking for jars, getting them, bringing them back home until there were no more to get?
Look what it says (2 Kings 4:5-6):
She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 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.
You see, the basis for the miracle was her own resources! God will multiply what we surrender to him—multiply it beyond our dreams.
God’s provision was as large as their faith and willingness to obey.
Beware of limiting God’s blessing by a lack of faith and obedience. God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. Eph 3:20
2 Kings 4:7: “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.’”
You notice, he gave her two commands. He said, “Go, sell the oil.”
You see, she still had work to do. She still had to take the initiative. She still had to be creative. Then he said, “Pay your debts!” That came first! That came before the new sofa, the new T.V., the new car, the new clothes. Pay your debts!
Sometimes when God makes away we are so quit to see how we can benefit from it and not bother asking what it is He would have for us to do.
The first thing God will do is make sure all your needs are meet and then get ready if your faithful and obedient more blessings are coming your way.
Do you trust Him this morning? If so, don’t limit what He can do for you and through you. Ask largely and expect large blessings to follow.