A Note from DT

Earlier this week I thought of the widow who approached Elisha in 2 Kings 4.  Her husband had passed away and she was in a hard place financially and was facing the threat of her creditors taking custody of her son’s to work them as his slaves. Elisha’s response to the woman is quite interesting,  

“Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” To which he responded, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” (2 Kings 4:2-4)

Elisha was a man of great authority because of his relationship to God and this woman knew this as her deceased husband had once been a servant and student of the prophet.  The great prophet did not call her attention to what she was missing but in stead asked her to focus on what she did have and instructed her to use that for her breakthrough by pouring it out.  As unconventional and even crazy as these instructions seemed to be, the woman was willing to risk it…  

So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.” (2 Kings 4:5-7)

This is a strange story with a happy ending…but what’s it really about? One powerful message from this story is that the woman had exactly what she needed in her possession but the only missing ingredient was finding a place to put it that would bring multiplication.  By releasing her oil into her neighbors vessels that which she did have was greatly multiplied.  In fact, the more she poured the more would flow out as long as she found a vessel to pour into. The same is true for us. 

Have you ever felt like you were going through a spiritual dry spell or just in need of a breakthrough in life? Could it be that when we feel that the rivers of living water aren’t flowing into our own lives that maybe we aren’t allowing them to flow out of us and into the vessels of our ‘neighbors’?  I think that’s the point.  Jesus said that those who believe in Him would have rivers of water flowing from within them (John 7:38).  Sometimes feeling spiritually dull or in a place of lack is simply having a dammed up river, and the key to a release can come from simply looking to be a blessing by pouring into others.  Receiving an encouraging word or blessing from the Lord from someone else is great but it pales in comparison to releasing an impactful word from Him to someone else. It just hits different to have His life flowing from within us and that is often what brings our own personal breakthrough. It really is better to give than to receive and in this life we actually receive when we choose to give. It sounds backwards but it is the way of the Spirit.  There are so many divine opportunities that surround us every day that come in the form of people whose lives we are called to touch.  When we have eyes to see we will recognize this.  We are called to be the ambassador’s of Heaven on the earth and our job is to release His reality wherever we go…this is the way.

-DT