Yesterday I was reminded of a Bible story from 2 Kings 4:1-7. It is a story of a recently widowed woman who came to Elisha for help. Her husband, who was a man of God, died, owing a debt. She had very little money and the Creditor was coming to take her children to sell into slavery. I can only imagine the terrifying and gripping fear of this dear woman. Many people in today’s economy have lost material things – maybe a house foreclosure, a car repossessed, a business closing, job loss, 401k depletion – but children? Being seized and sold into slavery? I frantically created scenarios of what “I” would do: hide them in a secret room under my house; send them to relatives overseas; cross the border into Mexico. All ridiculous, I know, but I felt her pain.
Elisha asks her what she has and the only thing of value is a little bit of oil. He tells her and her children to go throughout the neighborhood and gather jars. When the task is completed, Elisha, through God, begins to pour the oil into the jars. Before her very eyes it multiplies until there are no more jars. She takes the oil, sells it, and has enough to live on the rest of her life. Creditor paid in full!
Sometimes when I am praying I feel God shout out to an angel, “Can you get me a pen? Nora Almazan’s on her knees again!” Of course I am teasing but, oh, the problems I bring to God for myself, my children, my friends, the government, world hunger, the military, Israel. I wonder if I give Him a headache.
I ask myself, “Why did Elisha have the power to multiply the oil and save the widow’s children? Is he a super hero? Is he different from me?” And the answer is Elisha and I were created by the same God. We serve the same God. God is the same today, yesterday, and forevermore.
Elisha called upon His God and had the FAITH to know God would prevail.
God knows your burdens. He knows mine. And He cares about every single one of them. What’s missing in our story and Elisha’s? The Faith to know He has us covered.
