2 Kings 4:1-7 NLV Now the wife of the son of one of the men who tell what will happen in the future cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead. You know that your servant honored the Lord with fear. But the man to whom he owed money has come to take my two children to make them serve him.” Elisha said to her, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your woman servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.”  Then he said, “Go around and get jars from all your neighbors. Get empty jars, many of them.  Then go in and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour the oil into all these jars, and set aside each one that is full.”  So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They took the jars to her, and she poured.  When the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another jar.” And he said to her, “There is not one jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.  She came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go and sell the oil and pay what you owe. You and your sons can live on the rest.”

There were a few things I saw in this story; A tragedy doesn’t mean it’s the end of your story. This woman lost her husband and source of support but we only heard of her because God did something for her to show us how much he loves the widows and orphans. Secondly, she sought an answer from the Lord. A prophet is a representative of the Lord, someone who speaks what the Lord says. This woman needed an immediate answer to a very immediate problem. She was about to lose her boys, her home, she had nothing. Notice when he prophet asked what she had in her house her first response was nothing. Being overwhelmed with whats in front of us can make us forget the little we do have. Lastly, she obeyed the instruction that the Lord gave her and not only paid her debt but lived off the rest.

Oh, may I add this part to the story? Don’t think because your husband isn’t dead that God doesn’t see, hear and rescue you. Over the past few years, Walt and I have done the Singles Ministry at our church and what an eye opener. So lets add abandonment to this as well. If you’ve been abandoned by your spouse, God sees your plight, he understands what you’re going through. What do you have in your house? When you offer up the offering of thanksgiving, it gets the attention of God and he quickly comes to you.  Psalm 34:15 says; “The eyes of the Lord are on those who do what is right and good. His ears are open to their cry.”  Psalm 69:30; “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving.”

Being thankful gets the attention of the Lord. Instead of focusing on all the bad, focus on the good. Instead of seeing the loss, focus on the gains. Hebrews 13:5 GNT says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.” What a promise. He will never leave you or forsake you. So if you’ve been in the middle of what seems like an endless struggle over the promise God has given you, don’t think for a minute that He’s doesn’t have a plan for you. Right at this moment, the hand of the Lord is strong on your behalf. Obstacles are moving out of the way to open up the greatest blessing you’ve ever seen. Don’t be down-hearted or discouraged, keep your hope in the Lord and your eyes on the great deliverer. Whatever He tells you to do, do it. Even if others don’t understand or look at you like you’ve lost your mind. God uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise.