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 A Desperate Woman
Tom Barnard 

am sure you have heard this story before. It’s found in 2 Kings 4. The widow of one of Elisha’s fellow prophets came to him with a serious problem. Her husband, a prophet, had died, and a local creditor came calling, threatening to take her two sons as slaves if the debts weren’t satisfied. The size of the debts must have been enormous. 

Elisha came up with a creative solution. He asked her what she had in the house that could be used for collateral. She informed him that she had nothing, except a flask with some olive oil in it. Elisha gave the following instructions: “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting the jars aside as they are filled.”  

A less desperate parent might have turned her back on Elisha, telling him to get lost—that such a plan was stupid. But not this woman. She did as she was told. She was a desperate woman. She sent her sons to the neighbors in the village. Their assignment: Collect as many empty clay jars as possible, and bring them home. As they brought them to her, “she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim!” When all the borrowed jars were full, the olive oil stopped flowing. The woman reported back to Elisha what had happened—it was a miracle! Then the prophet told her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and there will be enough money left over to support you and your sons.”  And she did. 

The woman possessed nothing of intrinsic value—and no money—but she had something far greater—she had faith in Elisha’s God. And she had two sons. And little oil. It was all she needed. It was the stuff of which miracles are made. It required obedience at first, and then faith, and eventually the supply of new oil was more than enough to solve the woman’s financial need. 

What a great story! What she didn’t realize was that her poverty was a key to the solution of her problem.

She had reached the absolute end of her resources, and that was the point when Elisha’s God took over. 

It’s like that with us, isn’t it? Consider these words by Annie Johnson Flint, written nearly a century ago:

 When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father’s full giving is only begun. 

What troubles you today? What concerns do you have that seem beyond your ability to control? What unanswered prayers haunt you? What disappointments do you fear are lurking around the corner? God is asking, “What is in your hand, my child? What the woman did not know, but what Elisha knew, was that a little oil can go a long way, if it is placed in the hands of God. As the song says, “Little is much when God is in it.”  

Biblical history is full of stories of people who came to God with minimal resources. Do you remember the lad who brought his lunch to Jesus? The Lord fed five thousand with it! Pretty awesome. 

Here are five principles that I believe will work when things seem to be hopeless:

• Start where you are. Let desperation be your starting point, not your ending point.
• Seek the advice of godly, trustworthy people. Forget the horoscope and the lottery.
• Be willing to put all you have on the line. Even your limited resources. God wants it all.
• Follow the directions God supplies. He will never lead you astray.
• Be thankful. Share the wealth. Everyone in town benefitted from the miracle of the oil.

The Bible teaches us to ask. Jesus told his followers (Matthew 7:7, 8), “Everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.” Believe the promise.