“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.” (2 Kings 4:2, NIV)
In 2 Kings 4 we see a wonderful miracle of God’s provision for a poor widow. After the death of her husband, this woman was left with a load of debt that she was unable to pay. The widow had two sons whom the creditor was going to take as slaves for payment of the debt. Meanwhile the only item of value that she had was “a small jar of olive oil.” She cried out to the prophet Elisha for help. By the end of the story, the olive oil had multiplied – sufficient to pay off the debt, and also to live on!
There is much we can learn from this story. One lesson is this: even God’s people, doing God’s work, can end up in desperate situations. The man who died was part of “the company of the prophets.” The widow described her husband as “a good man… devoted to God” (v.1, The Message). What must she have thought? Her husband served God as a prophet, and was known to the prophet Elisha. She was devoted to God and her family, yet now she had lost her husband and was about to lose her sons. There was nothing she could do. The days and weeks before God’s miraculous provision must have been difficult for her. Yet times like these are also opportunities for God to demonstrate his power in our lives. The gap between what we need to do and what we are able to do is simply an opportunity for God to demonstrate his love and care for us in miraculous ways.
We don’t hope for desperate situations, certainly, but we should be aware that these moments can and do come – even as we devote ourselves to God. How should we react? The widow could have become bitter and angry. She could have run away. She shows us instead the correct way to respond: she cried out to God for help. When her situation became hopeless, she knew that the only hope she had was to place herself in God’s care and depend on his help.
The table above shows that we did not pay full targeted allowances for the month of March; 17 missionary units received 100 percent of the target, while 32 received 79 percent and two others received a percentage in between. If you are concerned for your own missionary partner, please drop me a line at jdahl@wmpl.org, or give me a call at 612.871.6843. Thank you for your ongoing support!