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 he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.' 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 for a little oil.'
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.'
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.
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.'"
Some point in our lives we find ourselves facing a crisis that renders us hopeless. The longer we focus on the problem, the larger it becomes. In the story the widow was at that point. Her husband had died and her debts were huge, now some man was coming to enslave her children. Instead of being paralyzed by her fear and doubt, she cried out. She was faithful and in God's favor. The interesting part of this story, in my opinion, is that God not only erased her debt, her gave her a little extra to survive.
In these times where people are losing there homes and the economy is uncertain, we need to still trust and thank God. It is easy to thank God when everything is going well, but sometimes we start to blame Him when things are not working the way WE feel it should. Sometimes God blesses us by not giving us what we think we want or are perceived suffering is actually protection.
I have a friend who went through a pretty ugly divorce and was very bitter and angry. Her husband had been having affairs for years and she was not aware. One day he told her about an affair and he wanted a divorce. The legal system's "justice" did not seem just at all and she was crushed. The bills mounted and her bitterness increased. During one of her prayers and complaining to God, it came to her - that she was not worrying about disease, that she did not worry about what she would find when she came home, .... maybe God was protecting her.
When things get tough do not loose focus, God will take care of you as long as you trust Him and allow Him to bless you. Things may not make sense to us, but then again it doesn't have to - we have to have faith and keep our eyes on God and His will.
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