2 Kings 4:1-7 tells of a woman who found herself backed into a corner. She had married a son of the prophets, a man who feared the Lord, but her family had sunk deeply into debt, her husband had died, her cupboards were bare, and now the creditor was knocking at her door for a settlement involving the selling of her two children as his slaves. A woman of little faith would have resigned herself to the inevitable, but this courageous widow sought the help of the Lord through the prophet Elisha.

"And Elisha said to her, `What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?' And she said, `Your servant has nothing in the house except ajar of oil"' (v. 2).

She had nothing to work with-no hidden emergency stash, no budget to cut, assets to liquefy. All she had was ajar of oil, but no flour to make bread with. "Oil, huh?" Elisha must have thought. "We can work with that." It was a little bit of nothing, but Elisha knew God can do big somethings with our little nothings.

The troubled widow was instructed to borrow empty crocks and jars and bowls from her neighbors and "not too few" (v. 3). She poured the oil from her own jar into the vessels she had collected from her neighbors until all were full. Perhaps not seeing the benefit of so much oil, the woman related the miracle to the man of God. "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest" (v. 7).

The Lord knows we are small. He knows that our strength is limited, David said in Psalm 103:14 that "He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust." Yet David also said in Psalm 18:29 that "by You I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall." Our problems, our limitations are nothing when we put our trust in God.

We should remember some key lessons from the story of the widow:

Seek the help of the Almighty God. Too often, He is the last one I consult when "all I can do is pray." "All I can do"? As if anything else that I could have done would have been "on my own," without the help of God's blessings? James 1:17 says every good gift comes from God. We would do well to remember that we are playing in someone else's sandbox. God is in charge, and He can take care of those that trust in Him. The widow sought God's help and He provided beautifully.

Accept the help of others. This is harder for some than others. So often I feel I might be bothering others by asking for help. I do not want to pester or inconvenience others, but are we not really telling others "I need you," or "You are valuable," or "You're handy" when we ask for help? I am afraid that my failure to ask for help so many times when I need it is not due to thoughtfulness but to pride, I do not want to admit I need help, but I do. The widow was told to go to her neighbors and to ask humbly to borrow from them, and she did.

Give it no little effort. If you ever feel inadequate, stop and consider whether you have given it your full effort. If we do not succeed because we have not really tried, then we cannot claim to be insufficient to the task. Whether it is mentoring a younger brother or sister in the faith, teaching a bible study, talking to someone about the gospel, or some other service we might be doing, we need to work "as to the Lord," and He deserves our best (Eph 6:7). Faith demands it. What if the widow had only "tried" to acquire empty vessels? Elisha instructed her to get "not too few" and she poured into as many vessels as she could find (2 Kings 4:3, 6).

God always provides what we need to accomplish His will., It may be tempting to think, "If only I could..." or "If only I was,..." Some things that God expects His people to do seem impossible by the world's standards. However, God's people know that the I AM takes care of the "im-" in "impossible" while we take care of the "-possible." It may take every ounce of courage and strength and wisdom we can muster, but then the widow poured out all her oil-all she had. Look what God did with her "sacrifice." He paid off her debts and gave her enough to live on. The widow had very little, but that didn't matter. It was enough for God.

By following the prophet's instruction, even with what little she had, this faithful woman in 2 Kings 4 received the abundance that only the Lord can give. God can do the same for you.

Justin Dobbs