Empty miracles
“Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” 2 King 4:2
2 Kings 4:1-7 tells the story of Elisah and the widow's oil. The widow fell into deep debt, and her creditors threatened to sell her two sons as slaves. As she asked Elisha for help , he told her to gather empty vessels from her neighbors, shut the door, and pour oil from the small jar into the vessels. The story ends happily, the vessels filled with oil, she sold the oils and paid off her debt, then lived off the remaining money.
This story has a number of important takeaways, especially in times of crisis. First, seek godly counsel and follow it. Counsel may be godly or ungodly, and Psalm 1:1 says that “Blessed is the man that walk not in the counsel of the ungodly.” Ungodly counsel may tempt us to do wicked things, but Godly counsel always points us to Jesus.
Secondly, what we have is always enough. Elisha asked, “What do you have in your house? ” The widow replied “a jar of oil”. That's enough for God to work creative miracles! An earthly mind will focus on the insufficiency and evaluate the resources on a worldly term, but a Christ-centered mind anticipates a miracle that will multiply what we have. The widow borrowed many empty bottles to symbolize that the more empty a situation is, the more space God can work in it.
By borrowing the bottles from her neighbor, the widow exhibited faith, but Elisha asked her to shut the door before pouring out the oil. What's the point of shutting the door? I believe shutting the door keeps her fears and doubts out of the house, and keeps others from sharing their doubts. A similar thing had happened when Jesus raised Jarius' daughter from the dead, as the crowd ridiculed Him and He told everyone to leave the house outside and did the miracle inside.
God performs miracles today, and the more empty we are, the more He can fill us with His oil. Also, when we enter the secret place and shut out our fears and doubts, we will have faith and expect to see His creative miracles!
Blessing prayer: Jesus, you are a miracle worker. May we empty ourselves before you so you can fill our vessel with your oil and deliver us from all troubles. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
