Corona Devo 833
(1) One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”
(2) “What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” “Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied.
(3) And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. (4) Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.”
(5) So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. (6) Soon every container was full to the brim!
“Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons.
“There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.
(7) When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.” ~2 Kings 4:1-7
There's a lot happening in this story...but what strikes you today?
A widow of a prophet desperately cries out to Elisha (another prophet), because she's at the end of her provisions and a creditor has come, threatening to take her two sons as slaves. But that's not what struck me about this story.
The prophet Elisha tells her to go and fetch jars from her friends...which she does. The jar-gathering sounds a little odd, humbling, possibly humiliating, and very obedient. But that's not what struck me about this story.
Then (from the tiny amount of existing oil that she had in the house) she proceeds to fill every jar that they had gathered. But that's not what struck me about this story.
Elisha instructed her to go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you (2 Kings 4:4). THAT'S what struck me about this story.
So much of our faith and spiritual growth happens behind closed doors when we get alone with our Lord, and if we have a family, then it is wise, prudent and Biblically-taught to add them into the process.
(So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine... (19) Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.. ~Deuteronomy 11:18-19)
The widow was told to go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you.
I hear God telling us the same thing today. Open the Scriptures and devote time in the safety, serenity, and comfort of our home to impressing them upon our hearts. And then (if applicable/possible), include your spouse/family in the process. (...go into your house with your sons).
Where better do we possibly think the Bible can be taught as often, directly, honestly and applicably--than in our homes? Certainly we have church services, Christian schooling and camps, but may we feel a strong challenge and calling in these verses to own and spearhead the process to study and share Scripture within our homes. Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you (2 Kings 4:4).
Shut the door.
Read. Digest. Discuss. Discern. Listen. Learn. Live-it-out.
Get alone behind closed doors with everyone in our household that we want to be included in God's provision.
Today--gather yourself. If we have others that we want covered in God's protection and blessing, gather them too.
Shut the door to your house. Be an empty vessel before the Lord, like the jars waiting to be filled... and let Him fill us.
How he does it is unexplainable. Miraculous. Life-changing.
How the Lord fills an empty, sinful, failed, broken, impure vessel (jar) like us is nothing short of a miracle. But fill us He does. And He will do it over and over and over again.--as long as we keep coming to Him. As long as we keep trusting in Him. As long as we keep emptying ourselves of all else and filling ourselves with Him. And why wouldn't we want our loved ones included in that?
But it won't happen in the "busy" of our public lives. It can't occur in the charade of daily life. We will not instill the still of the Lord and the legacy of His provision and love if we do not purpose to shut the door and meet with him privately.
That's where the miracle happens and that's what struck me about this story.
sarah
This really made my day today. Sometimes I need to calm down and just have time with Jesus.
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