Friday, May 14, 2010

Keep Pouring


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 little oil."

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."

She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one."
But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing.

She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left." 2 Kings 4:2-7

Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 4-6: Luke: 24: 36-53


I bet she looked more crazy than a little bit.


This is one of my favorite stories because it really is a clear illustration of faith. This woman approached Elisha about her needs and he met them. But what’s really interesting is how it was done.


She was required to act.


He told her to go around to all of her neighbors and ask for their empty jars and then fill the jars with oil. But the catch of course is that she doesn’t have any oil. That’s the whole problem. She’s broke.


But she DID it anyway.


What’s remarkable is that this was a miracle done by her, a regular person. Elisha didn’t actually do anything. He gave her instructions. It was up to her to believe that what he said would come true. It was up to her to believe in unseen…


Most of life’s miracles are done with our hands. When we see an image of what we want, or who we want to be, or what we want to do, and decide to act on it, we are doing what this woman did.


When we engage our mentors and plan out a strategy to make it happen it is like this woman going around to her neighbors and asking for jars. When we gather the necessary education and resources it is like this woman bringing the jars back to her home. When we start to act on our plans without knowing for sure what will come of them it is like the first moment that this woman poured the first drop of oil into the first jar.


The trick is to keep pouring.


Keep pouring until there isn’t a jar left that isn’t full of the blessings you want for your life.

5 comments:

  1. This is an excellent message. I definitely need this today.

    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey man of God, I love what you said about the widow woman: "It was up to her to believe that what he said would come true. It was up to her to believe in unseen…"

    I absolutely agree...

    You're sharing from the perception of believing the vessels could in fact be filled with oil.

    Elisha told her "go borrow vessels...do not gather just a few."

    She gathered a whole bunch of vessels...but the point is, "she put a limit on the amount to gather"...

    What about the fact the oil only ran out when the vessels ran out. As long as there were vessels to be filled, the oil continued to pour.

    The moment she stopped gathering vessels to pour the oil into, there was no reason for the oil to continue flowing.

    In our lives, I believe its the same concept. How much do you really want? How hard are you willing to work for what you believe?

    Our faith and how much we are willing to believe for will determine how much we will actually obtain.

    Do you have $200 faith, or do you have $200,000,000.00 faith?

    According to your faith be it unto you...

    Blessings

    ReplyDelete
  3. You have such an amazing gift - breakin it down for us lacking in such gift!

    ReplyDelete
  4. @anonymous Thank you whoever you are!

    ReplyDelete

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