A few drops of oil: a lesson in business and faith
Image courtesy of Squarespace.
Have you ever struggled with trusting God? Maybe it’s because all you can see is what you have now and you keep convincing yourself that you don’t have enough or that you are not enough. But that’s just not true.
I was reminded today that God is the God of immeasurably more. I’m sitting here trying to check all the boxes that the world has presented to me to be successful. .
Check out 2 Kings 4:1-7. I use the YouVersion Bible app.
‘The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha,” Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his servants.’ (2 Kings 4:1 NIV) Okay pause. Can you imagine someone just showing up at your house to snatch up your kids to pay your husband’s debts, who by the way is no longer with you? I don’t have kids yet but if someone told me they were coming to take my cat (horrible example I know) to pay for my debts, I would be upset too. Alright, so from this passage we get that she is going through a massive amount of stress: her husband died, her children are about to be taken, and she is broke.
‘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 a small jar of oil.” (2 Kings 4:2 NIV) The woman truly believed she had nothing that she could use to save herself or her children. Every time I imagine this story, I think of a woman in an adobe home with carved-out shelves in the wall and all you can see on the bottom shelf is one jar of olive oil. I mean, what do you do with that?
See, I believe that oil was a high commodity. Personal opinion of course, but this was the only item in her cupboard. It was saved for last. Everything else was gone. She chose to spare use for that item for a later time. This passage totally could have said something like “all I have is a cloak”. But it didn’t. She has something that would amount to more.
‘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.” (2 Kings 4:3-4 NIV) In this passage, I think Elisha, the man of God, told her that she had a precious gift and while she would have to take time to develop it (place it into the jars she received) she took her gift and then blessed her community, was able to use this to protect and support her family. To save them from a life of debt. I wish I could go back and see what happened to the two boys who watched their mother. Imagine what they learned in that moment.
A key aspect of this passage, in 2 King 4:7, is the woman went from having nothing to immeasurably more, able to give more. Why did God choose to share her story? I don’t know. I can only imagine that he wanted us to learn a few lessons from this:
God wants us to be free from debt.
God approves and is excited use women in ministry and business for his Kingdom.
God knows you have a gift, no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential to you, that matters to Him, that He knows will bless you and your environment.
Stop waiting because you have no idea how God intends to bless your life with that gift. It might look like a few drops of oil to you but it looks like freedom to God and love from our Heavenly Father.
Yours truly,
Jess
Disclaimer: I am not free from debt but I am making strides. *opinions are my own
