Women in the Bible pt 4 | Widow’s Oil

Not enough.

These two words describe how I have felt so often; like I am not enough or don’t have enough. It’s not a good feeling, this feeling of lack. It weighs on you, and if you’re anything like me, you feel shame because of it.

​Do you know the story of the woman who didn’t have enough? She was in a horrible predicament. Her husband had just died, and she was left with a debt that she couldn’t afford to pay.

During these times, things were much different. This woman wasn’t able to write off her debt, file for bankruptcy or take the hit to her credit score. Back then, debt put your family at risk in extreme ways.

The Bible says that her husband’s creditor was coming to take away her two sons as his slaves; this would be considered payment for the debt.

Can you imagine? Your husband has just died, and now, your children are being threatened. This woman must have been beyond terrified by the prospect of losing her entire family. Thankfully, she was a fighter and wasn’t willing to concede so easily.

​The Bible says that her husband was “a man from the company of the prophets,” so when her family was being threatened, she knew where she could turn for help (2 Kings 4:1 NIV). Elisha was a well-known prophet in that time, and he had performed many miracles. She knew he was connected to God,and because of this, she was certain he could save her family too. She “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 slaves’” (2 Kings 4:1 NIV).

I love this because she is reminding Elisha who her husband was. It’s like she was saying, “Look, you know the kind of man that my husband was, and that warrants your help.” Elisha didn’t even argue with her. Instead, he asked, “How can I help you?” (2 Kings 4:2 NIV). Before she could answer, however, Elisha asked another question: “Tell me, what do you have in your house?” (2 Kings 4:2 NIV).

Now, I imagine at this point that the woman was a little frustrated. Like, “Do you think I’d be coming to you for help if I already had it?” If she was anything like me, she asked for help as a last resort. She had counted all of her money, checked out the worth of every single one of her possessions, and finally, came to the conclusion that she was going to have to push past her thoughts of “not wanting to be a burden,” along with her pride of feeling like, “I should be able to take care of myself,” and ask for help because if I don’t, the cost would be significantly greater.

As a person who struggles with this a lot, let me just tell you, it’s not easy asking for help. In fact, I probably would have felt offended by Elisha’s question and said, “I wouldn’t be here if I had it, and I wouldn’t ask for your help if I didn’t need it.” This woman, however, had much more couth than me. She, simply, answers Elisha, saying, “Your servant has nothing there at all,” but as soon as these words leave her mouth, she remembers what she does have, and says, “except a small jar of olive oil.”

I have nothing…except a small…

How often do we look at what we have and say, “It’s small,” “It’s nothing,” “It’s not much,” “It’s not enough,” or “I only have a little bit.” How often do we think of ourselves this way? “Who am I?”; “I’m not much”; “I can’t”; or “I won’t make that much of a difference.”

Elisha didn’t belittle, discredit, dishonor or downplay what the woman had. Instead, he gave her instructions on what to do with it; He told her how to use it. “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 4:3-7).

There is so much in this passage of scripture that it’s hard to know where to start. First, I love the fact that Elisha challenged the widow to ask her neighbors for help because it shows me that miracles are oftentimes, if not always, produced by the participation of others (2 Kings 4:3 NIV).

Also, it reminds me that I have to be willing to get outside of my comfort zone and ask for help when I need it. Again, Elisha said, “neighbors,” not “neighbor”; this means, she had to ask multiple people for help (2 Kings 4:3 NIV).

Furthermore, he instructed her, “Don’t ask for just a few,” meaning, “Don’t go around bashful, asking for the bare minimum”; “Ask for what you need” (2 Kings 4:3 NIV). Elisha’s instructions show me that this widow was a lot like me because he had to tell her to ask for help, to not be afraid to ask more than one person, and to ask for what she actually needed; not just what she felt comfortable asking for.

The fact that he instructed her in this way means that these are things that she typically wouldn’t do.

Secondly, he told her to “go inside and shut the door behind her and her sons,” which says to me that the miracle won’t always come in the presence of others; it can be produced in privacy, in the presence of those whose faith believes that it can, will, and is happening(2 Kings 4:4).

Thirdly, he told her to “Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side” (2 Kings 4:4). This says to me, “Don’t get so caught up on the first miracle that you miss the next ones.”

Think about it. This woman only had a little oil. It’s a miracle that one jar was filled, but then more and more kept filling. It would have been easy to be so fascinated by the first jar that she stopped trying to fill the others, but then, she wouldn’t have been able to receive all that God had in store for her.

Lastly, I love that the woman returns to Elisha after the miracle was done. She could have just looked at her blessings and decided to do what she wanted, but she returns to Elisha to receive more instruction.

In essence, she’s saying, “You blessed me. Now, tell me, what do you want me to do with it?” Elisha told her, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left” (2 Kings 4:7).

Do you know what amazes me about this story? The small thing that she had, the very thing that she had discounted, was the exact thing that she needed; and not only did it pay off all ofher debt, but it was enough to set her, and her children, up for life.

All of this became possible when she turned to God, obeyed His instructions, and submitted what she had into His Hands.

You may think what you have is small, or who you are is not enough, but in the Hands of God, you already have, and you already are, everything that you need. God will take what you have, and who you are, and He will give you more than enough. Not only will He pay off your debts, but He will sustain and bless you, and the generations connected to you, for life. This woman wasn’t solitarily blessed; in the Hands of God, the little that she had became enough to bless her children for their entire lives.

The greatest moves of God often come from the things that we consider small, insignificant or not enough; oftentimes, they show up in the people that we have discounted and rejected.

What are you calling small? What/who do you think is insignificant or not enough? Who are you discounting and rejecting? Have you discounted or rejected yourself because you believe you are not enough to do the things that God is calling you to do?

It doesn’t matter how small you are; God is BIG enough to use and move through you. Trust Him enough to give Him what you have and who you are, so He can show you that He is the God of more than enough. He will take what you once called small, and not only will He bless you, He will bless the nations connected to you.

Ephesians 3:14-21 (NIV)

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom His whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Written by Crystal Bryan.