Below is the devotion for people who are struggling with a hopeless situation when it comes to their finances. The point is not that God will perform a miracle for everyone who is in dire circumstances. Instead, what this passage teaches us it to have faith in God, who provides wise counsel and is sovereign in all our circumstances.
Some of you may be struggling right now because of the debt you have. It may seem like the amount is so large that there is no hope of ever getting out from under that tidal wave of red ink. Don’t give up! There is a great passage in 2 Kings 4 that can teach us some things about God and how we are to act in these circumstances.
Go to http://about.esvbible.org/ and look up 2 Kings 4:1-7.
1. The widow went to a man of God for help in this situation. I hope we are learning that managing finances is as much a spiritual matter as it is anything else. If you are not thinking about your finances from a biblical perspective, seek wise counsel from a trusted Christian friend.
2. Be aware of what you have available. Dave has said at least three times to “sell so much stuff that the kids think they are next.” The widow didn’t have a lot of resources, but she had one. Elisha recognized that God could use the oil to help this family.
3. Faith matters when it comes to making it out of difficult circumstances. I hope you caught what happened in verse 6. The oil stopped flowing when they ran out of vessels. The implication is that if the widow had gotten one more vessel, then she would have been able to fill it up as well. Our God has unlimited resources, so we should depend upon Him to meet our needs knowing that He loves us.
4. God provides the miracles, but we have responsibilities as well. The point of the story is the miraculous way that God provided the oil to this family, but there is another lesson in the story. The widow and her sons had to work as well. They went around gathering the empty vessels to fill with oil. If the family had gathered fewer vessels, they would have had less oil to sell. On the other hand, if they had gathered more vessels, they would have had more oil to sell. Pray and ask God to help you through your difficult time, but be about the things that you can do to provide for your family.
When Joshua was called upon to lead Israel after Moses’ death, he faced the task of leading the people to conquer the Promised Land. As Joshua stood on the edge of this monumental task, God gave him encouragement that applies to you as well.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:8b-9
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