Tough times come to all of us.
(Marriage, Family Finances, Health….)
Job 5:7 - “Yet man is born to
trouble as sparks fly upward.”
You and I will face difficult
circumstances in our lives. Regardless of how hard we may try to avoid
them, those trying rimes will eventually find us. (2 Timothy 3:1 - But
know this, that in the last days perilous times will come) What should
we do when that happens?
Text:
2 Kings 4:1-7
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.”
2 So
Elisha said to her, “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.”
1.
Don’t get Bitter: (2 Kings 4:1)
·
This woman was in a terrible
situation – no doubt she was grief-stricken – at the end of her rope!
She may have been asking – “Why God? Why did you let this happen to your
faithful servant? How are we going to pay our bills?”
·
During the Old Testament days, to be
a poor widow was to be in dire straits. If she couldn’t pay her bills,
the debt collector would take her sons and make them slaves as payment.
(Leviticus 25:39-40 – 39And if one of your brethren who
dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not
compel him to serve as a slave. 40As a hired servant and a
sojourner, he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of
Jubilee.) It would have been easy for her to throw in the towel.
·
If you are experiencing very
difficult circumstances, you may be bitter or headed in that direction.
Remember, God doesn’t owe you anything—He is not your servant or a magic
genie. He does thins for us because He wants to, not because He has to.
(Luke 17:9-10 - 9Does he thank that servant because he did
the things that were commanded him? I think not. 10So
likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are
commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our
duty to do.’) We are not entitled to anything or deserving of God’s
grace or blessings. We need to make sure we don’t pray to thinking that
He owes us.
·
Even though He doesn’t owe us, He
does love and care for us. (1 Peter 5:7 - …casting all your care upon
Him, for He cares for you.)
·
(2 Chronicles 7:3 -
When
all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of
the Lord on
the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and
worshiped and praised the Lord, saying:
“For He
is good,
For His
mercy endures forever.”)
Remember that God is good, no matter what may happen to
you. The woman in our story took her meeds to God by wany His spokesman
Elisha. To keep from getting bitter, we need to go to our heavenly
Father and lay our problems at His feet. Knowing He has promised to meet
our needs. (Hebrews 4:16 - Let
us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need.)
2.
Focus on what you do have, not what you
don’t have (2 Kings 4:2-3)
·
All she had was a jar of oil.—Jar
is the Hebrew word for small pot.—The oil was either for her burial
or her husband’s anointing oil. God was going to take her “nothing
except” and turn it into “something exceptional.”
·
It reminds us of the time Jesus fed
the 5,000 men plus women and children. (John 6:1-15) Jesus tested his
disciples and asked how they were going t feed all these people. All
they found was a small boy with five loaves and two small fish. What
are they among so many? John 6:9
·
So start working with the dimes you
do have instead of the dollars you don’t have. See what God will do.
(Parable of the Talents – Matthew 25:14-30)
3.
Put your faith into action (2 Kings 4:5-7)
·
Elisha gave the woman instructions,
which she might have thought quite strange, “Do not gather just a
few.” (2 Kings 4:3). She went to God for help, but I came in an
unexpected way. Isaiah 55:8-9 –
8“For My
thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
·
What is important to note is that
she stepped out in faith and obeyed. “Real faith has legs.” The person
of faith gets up and does what God wants him to do. “What we really
believe, we practice!”
James 2:17-24 –
17 Thus
also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But
someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith
without [a]your
works, and I will show you my faith by [b]my
works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do
well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do
you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is [c]dead? 21 Was
not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son
on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working
together with his works, and by works faith was made [d]perfect? 23 And
the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham
believed God, and it was [e]accounted
to him for righteousness.” And
he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that
a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
Conclusion:
Tough times come to all of us. To
endure them and to glorify God, don’t become bitter. Focus on what you
have, not what you don’t have, and put your faith in action.
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