2 Kings 4:1 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, 2“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.” 3 Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. 4 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.” 5 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. 6 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. 7 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.”
Do not allow lack to become a mindset. Become accustomed to abundance.
In this story, Elisha helped a woman who needed provision. His instruction was to use what she had and to gather empty vessels that could be supernaturally filled with oil. He said, “Do not gather just a few.”
She did as instructed, but apparently did not do all that she could have done to gather more vessels. As a result, “the oil ceased.” She was able to sell the oil and receive provision, but the supply was limited by the number of vessels she gathered.
For whatever reason, we sometimes stop short of doing all that we can in obedience to God. Perhaps her experience of lack caused her to think, “This is enough,” or maybe she felt uncomfortable doing more.
Of course, we do not know her reasons, but the message to us is clear: Obey God and bring Him everything He asks for. He is only trying to bless you more!
