Recently, I was reading in II Kings 4 and only got as far as verse 2. In this verse is found a woman, a widow specifically, who was a mother. Her husband had died, and she owed money that she did not possess. The debt collector was about to take her sons as slaves. She went to Elijah and asked for help. He then asked her what would seem to be a somewhat odd question: …what hast thou in the house?… He did not ask her where she could go or who could help her. He inquired to find out what she already had.
See, he knew that she had exactly what she needed for God to perform a miracle. We find in her answer that she had just a pot of oil. He told her to send her sons to borrow pots from her neighbors. I love that he told her to …borrow not a few… because he knew that she, like most of us, probably would have gotten just a few, hoping for something but being totally unprepared for what God had in store for her.
We know the rest of the story. She poured out her oil into these other pots until every single one was full. God performed a miracle! She was able to sell the oil, the profits of which allowed her to pay her debt and have money left over for her family.
What I most noticed about this was that God did not ask her for anything she did not already possess. He asked, “What do you have?” I know I often look at my problems that seem overwhelming, and I do not know how to solve them. God asks me, “What do you have?” I look at what I have and think, “But God, that’s not enough.” God asks again, “What do you have?” Sometimes, I say (in my mind, at least), “God, I already told You that I don’t have enough.” Whether it is patience, talent, or wisdom, God keeps asking me to give Him what I have. When I do surrender these things to Him, amazingly, there is always enough to meet every need.
God does not ask for anything we do not already possess, but He does ask us to give Him what we have so He can make it enough. What we have in our houses may not be the same as what someone else has in her house. God does not ask for what someone else has. He wants to use what He has already given us to fulfill His purpose for our lives.
by Vicki Voorhis