2Kings4:1-7
‘. . . What do you have in your house?’ (Verse 2, CEV)
This poor widow would never have imagined what God could do with her small bottle of oil. In fact she didn’t even think it was worth anything, so she replied ‘I have nothing – but a small bottle of oil’.
Yet God used her ‘nothing’ to save her sons from slavery, pay off her family’s debt and sustain them for the rest of their lives. It’s interesting too that the supernatural oil stopped flowing as soon as there were no more empty vessels. She was asked to go home, shut her door and begin filling the jars with oil. It’s a good thing she shut her door. This was no time for nosy neighbours, logic or doubts.
My family and I moved to a new city this year. Soon, the initial excitement that usually accompanies new things in our lives began to wear off. I grew restless, asking God, why am I here? Every other family member had settled into work and school. What about me, Lord? I allowed external voices put me under pressure, as I had no exciting tales of glamour and adventure to share with my friends back home. ‘I haven’t found my place here yet’ is definitely not interesting conversation, you know.
I read this scripture during one of those nights of praying and crying to God. ‘Okay God’, I told Him, ‘like this widow, I have nothing but this small gift of writing’. It isn’t really anything major, I wish I could put down great lines of prose, and imagine amazing plots of fiction. My ‘nothing’ is not earth shattering at all. It’s just this devotional where God helps me share all He’s teaching me in His word.
Well, like the widow, I’ve shut the door against the voice of doubt. I still don’t know for sure what God has for me here, but I know I’m using my ‘nothing’ for His glory. I pray that the Lord will help us all dig out our ‘nothings’ and as we use them for His glory, He will breathe on them and cause them to increase, multiply and bear fruit.
God bless You. Shalom.
Photo courtesy: barfblog.com