“A Tale of Some Ridiculousness”

This is a story of ridiculous faith displayed by Elisha and the woman with the jar.  This story comes from the book of 2 Kings 4.  “One day the widow of one of Elisha’s fellow prophets came to Elisha and cried out to him, ‘My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord…’”  So we see that her husband who has passed on was, in fact, a servant of Elisha and a man of faith.  She pleads with Elisha about her financial situation, the fact that her husband owed some men some money and can’t make good on his debt.  They want to come to take her children and have them serve them to satisfy the debt. 

As she pleads with Elisha, he asks her, “What can I do for you?” and asks her, “What do you have in the house?”  She tells him that his servant girl, that is herself a servant of Elisha, only has a jar of olive oil.  So now we are about to see Elisha’s faith.  He tells her to go all around to her neighbors and collect as many jars as she can as well as collect all of her own empty jars and line them all up in the house.  He says to her go and close the door behind you and what I want you to do is start filling up all of the jars one at a time, using your only jar of olive oil.

So the woman, being a servant, does as she is told and goes in with her boys, shuts the door and starts pouring.  She pours and pours until all the jars are filled.  At that point, the oil stopped flowing.  She then went and told Elisha what happened and his reply is this: “Now go sell it all, pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”

Now this woman had a serious situation she had to deal with.  An actual lender that her husband had owed money to was coming to cash in.  Since she had no money, the lender was going to take her children to satisfy the debt.  What would you do?  Probably just call the police seeing in today’s day and age it is illegal and against the law to do anything of those sorts.  But back in those days, the laws were much more lenient.  So imagine you’re faced with a situation like that.  Do you pray, are you seeking God’s warriors for help in those times of need?  Do you have people on your speed dial that you can call in a time of crisis?  I mean really grounded, mature, seasoned Christians?  These are the people seeking the Word of God day in and day out and can offer up some very sound advice.  You see this woman was a woman of faith.  Her husband was a servant to Elisha and Elisha was called by God.  He was a true man of faith, walking the walk, and talking the talk.  Along with her willingness to ask for help and coupled with her obedience to follow what she was told to do, by this true servant, the Lord allowed a story to emerge, one of total ridiculous faith that would touch countless millions in the years to come.

We as Christians need to put our faith into action.  We need to turn to Jesus in times of need and in times of crisis.  We need to look to our orders from God and if the Lord has appointed us an overseer than we need to obey them and we too can watch our olive jars be filled.

Not all olive jars are the same or are for the same reason.  Regardless of what life throws at you, Jesus can make a way out of no way.  God can turn an impossible situation into a possible one because with God all things are possible.  We have to remember that God has a plan for us.  He has all our days numbered and written in a book if we keep Him focused in our lens and move forward with purpose, then God will be faithful to complete what He has started in us.

If we decide it’s time for our own plan, seeking our own wishes and will, then that leads us to destruction and pain.  A path absent of God is no path at all.  It’s a thorn riddled, rocky, slippery slope which destines us for failure.

It may not seem that its failure, at least not from a worldly perspective.  It actually might be a very successful life you have built, but without faith, without Jesus, it is absolutely empty.  You will be spiritually bankrupt.

If today you’re spiritually empty, then let Jesus fill your olive jars for He has plenty of a love-filled Spirit to go around, enough to fill trillion of jars.

If your relationship or marital jar is empty, then let Jesus fill your jars with love, understanding, and peace because it’s the understanding of His Word that will fill your jar and you can live in perfect peace.

Maybe your financial jar is empty, be sure you’re seeking the Word of God about this.  Maybe you have to apply Biblical principles to your current situation to bring insight to the overall problem.  Most often a financial burden is self-induced, but in those rare circumstances, as we read about in 2 Kings 4, God will bring you out of it.  You may say, “Well how do you know this,” and I say to that Exodus 14:14 and Isaiah 54:17 “The Lord will fight your battles for you and all you need to be is silent,” and “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.”

All the woman did is activate her faith and asked a true man of God, one with a ridiculous kind of faith and her problem was solved.  Sometimes our jars are filled instantaneously, others not so fast.  For we know God works in mysterious ways and His ways are not our own so we must learn to trust in Him and walk in His path.

Today I urge you to seek the Lord with all your heart and obey the living Word of God for this is the true recipe for a jar of overflowing proportions.