2KINGS 4:1-7
A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.”
So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”
Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.”
So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.”
And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”
I had to take a second here and look across my life and observe moments when I thought I was being overcome by unavoidable circumstances. Times when I was sure that there was nothing left that I could do and if God did not intervene, I would be crushed by it all. In this scripture we see a mother, a widow, trying her all to save her sons from slavery at the hands of creditor. So on top of having the burden of losing her husband and now raising her sons alone, she had gone into debt for what we would assume to be for her family’s well being; she was going to lose the family she was trying to raise only to repay that debt. Now on a last ditch effort she goes to the prophet Elisha for help. The scripture tells us that her deceased husband had been a servant to Elisha. I can imagine the desperation in her voice as she explains her situation to him and reminds him of how good her husband was to him and how he was a godly man and for that he just has to help her. Think of look on her face when Elisha says, “What shall I do for you?” I’m positive that her heart must have sunk deep within her chest. Here she stands before her last hope of saving her family and he wants to know what is he supposed to do for me and now he wants to know what I have left in my house. Who does this guy think he is? What am I going to do? I don’t have the capacity within me or my house to do anything or I wouldn’t be here. She must have just been beside herself with joy!
This is the point that most of us miss out on the opportunity to find new places of capacity within ourselves waiting to be filled. When Elisha asked what she had I have to think that God wasn’t looking for her abundance he was searching out her capacity to carry His abundance. Notice that Elisha told her to go find vessels from everywhere; borrow them if she had to, just go make sure she had enough to hold the abundance. We often stand looking up at God like he has cut off the supply from heaven when the truth is that we aren’t using the capacity that he has already given us. We want God to provide but we haven’t made room within ourselves to store it or even considered obtaining the ability to use what we are asking for.
As men we are hard pressed to ask for directions. We sure don’t like having to look to others for provision. It’s ok to feel this way because God made us to be providers; it’s in our God given DNA to be this way. You have to realize that many times our providing; our leadership abilities, can be limited by not leaving room for more than just what we see with our natural eyes. Elisha told her to bring the vessels back to her house and to go in and shut the door behind her and pour out of what she already had into her new found capacities (vessels). We are so caught up in being the man and having the answers that we overlook what is before us. Our empty vessels are often at home, our wives and children. These vessels are a part of our capacity to hold the abundance that God has for us. The scripture says that she and her sons went in with the empty vessels and she shut the door behind them and poured out from the vessel of oil until all the vessels were full and then the oil stopped. The abundance of God continued to flow until they no longer had the capacity to hold any more. Then and only then were they able to sell what they had and pay off the debt she owed and still had enough to live off of. Notice here that it does not say enough left over to buy another meal with; it says enough to live off what was left over. That is God’s abundance. You sir, have not been cut off from heaven while God watches you squirm and beg for enough to get by. God has an abundance that He is waiting to send to you to overflow your vessels. It is our actions through neglect, carelessness, procrastination, and fear that keep us cut off from the open hands of the Father. When we are unwilling to move on the abilities that God has already given us we stop creating the capacity for more growth. It was only when the widow sent out her sons to find the vessels that they were able to obtain them. Don’t sell yourself short. God created you to be dependent on Him but not helpless because of Him. You are a way maker. You are a visionary. You are a divinely built abundance distribution center for the Kingdom of God. God never made you to be helpless. He created you to occupy the land that doesn’t mean to live in it but that you own it and all that it possesses.
Now ask yourself this question, what is that God has already given me that I haven’t used to make room for more of the abundance that God has for me? It may be a talent that you’ve stored up for years that God is waiting on you to release. It may be in the hands of your wife or children and God is waiting for you bring it into the house and pour into it, grow it and guide it. The possibilities are limitless but whatever they may be don’t ever stop maximizing your capacity to hold the abundance of blessing that God has stored up for you. Go gather the vessels it’s time to start pouring!
M.U.S.C.L.E. 