The story of the Widow and Elisha is a story most Christians are familiar with in the scriptures (1 Kings 4:1 – 7). Today, I will be breaking the story down in the context of Christ’s teachings.
The widow was a wife of Elisha’s servants and a man of God as well, and the widow’s late husband owed several people money before he died, now, the creditors would not allow the widow sleep. The first point that stood out here is that, serving God does not mean you will be rich, but one thing is certain, God will take care of you. If we look at many men of God in the bible, especially the Disciples of Christ, none of then were billionaires. If Godliness is a means to financial gain, then the Disciples will be extremely rich, especially Paul. Abram was rich in terms of money before he encountered God in Genesis 26, and God blessed him spiritually, especially with faith, and he became Abraham. Whenever we talk about God’s blessing most Christians only think of money, but God’s blessings are majorly things that edify the spirit and glorify him.
Elisha then asked the widow, what do you have? She said nothing, except a small jar of oil. God only works in people through their faith. Jesus emphasised on this in his teachings, that even if your faith (jar of oil) is as small as a mustered seed, you will command the mountain to move and it will move (Luke 17:6). The widow almost lost the last chance to her way-out, but she went from no faith to a little fait left (little jar of oil). In addition, many people believe God has not gifted them with anything, and they always look for excuses for their failures, poverty of the mind and body, misfortunes etc. But the truth is, everyone has that little jar of oil (passion or talent), which can be multiplied to fulfil your destiny and God’s purpose for you. However, we are too lazy to explore and search for that little jar of oil in our disorganized rooms (mind), then we keep giving excuses till old age, when it’s night and too dark to work or explore (Lamentations 3:7).
Elisha then told the widow to search for bigger jars as much as she can from her neighbours to fill them up with her little jar of oil. She was told to explore bigger opportunities with her little faith/little talent, and make it work for her until she has exhausted every opportunities (every bigger jars). The widow needed someone to activate the little faith (little jar of oil) she had and to make it work, which Elisha did. Many people today only depend on their pastors or parents for their prayers to be answered or for things to work out for them, which does not happen most of the time. This was why Jesus came and died for us, so you do not need an Elisha or pastor to activate your little faith, as you now have direct access to God through Jesus to activate your faith. If the widow had Jesus, she would not need Elisha (John 11:40).
The widow did as Elisha told her to do and all the bigger jars were filled until she ran out of jars. As she was filling each bigger jar, her faith was rising from little to bigger as well. She would have been thinking to herself in the process that, if God can fill the previous big jar, then he would fill the next bigger jar, until she filled all the jars. This is how God works with us, the more you experience/encounter him, the more your faith grows stronger. Now, the widow determined how much she got, if she had gotten thousands of jars, her little jar of oil would have filled them all. As there is no limit with God and when you have faith. If you do not have faith, no matter how small, then it becomes difficult to receive or walk with God, as having faith is the gift of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:37, James 1:6-8, 1Corinthians 12:9).
We all know what ended the story of the widow, her little jar of oil (faith/talent/effort), got her out of her mess, and she was blessed. The real blessing here is that her faith became bigger and stronger than the initial, after she encountered God. She started with a little jar and ended with multiple bigger jars of oil. If you feel lost and helpless in anyway, I urge you today to ask Jesus anyway you can to help you search-out and activate the little jar of oil in your room (heart). Jesus is willing to hear you out, converse with you, and walk with you if you open up to him and allow him lead you.
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