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WHEN YOU REACH THE END OF YOUR ROPE---2 Kings 4:1-7 Have you ever felt like you were at the end of your rope? The realist would say, “Just tie a knot and hang on.” The pessimist would say, “You might as well let go; it’s only going to get worse.” The optimist might say, “Just tie another knot and keep on climbing.” Some are in that very place today! You are at the end of your rope and there is a long drop beneath you and you do not know what to do.
This passage tells us about a poor, widow woman who was at the end of her rope. She did not know what to do or where to turn. In her pain & poverty, she turned to the Lord, and God came through for her in a very big way! These verses show us that just as God took care of this widow, He will take care of you. When we reach the end of our rope, there’s help & there is hope. I. V. 1 GOD KNOWS OUR PROBLEMS A. There Was Despair In Her Family – The word “cried” means “to moan; to weep uncontrollably; to shriek out of grief.” (Have you ever been there?) B. There Was Death In Her Family-She was married to one of the “sons of the prophets”. She is broken because a loved one has been taken away. (Have you ever been there?) C. There Was Debt In Her Family – Since her husband is dead she cannot pay her bills. As a result, her creditors are coming to take her sons away as slaves so they can work off the debt. This was allowed under the Jewish Law, Lev. 25:39. She is over her head in debt and she doesn’t see how she can make it. (Have you ever been there?) D. There Was Devotion In Her Family –In her desperation she turns to the man of God for help. Elisha was God’s representative on earth and he was her best hope. She reminds Elisha that her husband “did fear the Lord.” II. v. 2-4 GOD RELEASES OUR POTENTIAL A. v. 2a How God Erases Our Faith–The Lord erased the widow’s faith through two questions asked by Elisha. 1.) What do you need? 2.) What do you have? By two questions, this woman was made to see the her need and the smallness of her own resources. She needed much, but she couldn’t possibly meet her needs. Often God will use the trials, heartaches and burdens of life to bring us to the place where we can honestly see our need and our own inability to meet it. As long as we think we can handle things, why should we look to the Lord? If we have all the answers, why should we turn to Him with our questions? But, when we stop and honestly answer those two questions, we will realize that we need more than we will ever be able to supply by ourselves. God isn’t trying to erase our faith in Him; He is trying to erase our faith in ourselves! B. v. 2b-5 How God Expands Our Faith – After God erased her faith in herself and her own abilities, He began the process of expanding her faith in the power of the Lord to meet her need. Again, He does the same thing in your life and mine.) 1. v. 2b He Expands Our Faith Personally– “What hast thou in the house?” was designed to teach this widow that it may not have looked like she had much, but in reality, she already had everything she needed to obtain what she wanted. She couldn’t see it, but God had already given her the very thing He would use to meet her need. Her answer to Elisha is to tell him that all she has is “a pot of oil”. The word “pot” refers to “a flask”. This little flask of oil had sat in the house unused since her husband died. That little, insignificant flask of oil would be the answer to her prayers. What we fail to realize is that God has already given us everything we need to get our need met. That widow said that the only thing of value she had was a pot of oil. Yet, you have I have so much more than a mere pot of oil!
2. v. 3 He Expands Our Faith Publicly – The widow is told to go to all her neighbors and borrow all the empty vessels that she can get her hands on. That is a strange command! How do you suppose she explained this to her neighbors? I don’t understand it, but I know God is going to make a way.” It may have been that God used her to speak to her neighbors! They might have thought she had lost her mind as she went door to door collecting those vessels. But, what a witness it would have been when the Lord met her need! He does the same thing in your life and mine! We talk about how we love the Lord and its just words until the Lord sends us into the valleys. When we are there, and He comes through for us in a big way, it speaks volumes to those who are watching us! You never know who God is using your life to speak to! 3. v. 4-5 He Expands Our Faith Privately – Faith moved in that widow’s heart. She obeyed the Lord; she borrowed the vessels and she and her sons shut themselves up in the house and trusted God to do what He had promised to do. This is the experience of every child of God who is placed in a position of total trust and dependence. When the Lord comes through for His people, the work He does might be widely known, but the greatest work is in the heart of His child. Their faith is expanded and they will never be the same again.
III. v. 5-7 GOD GIVES OUR PROVISION A. v. 5 The Lesson Of God’s Provision – One of the lessons we can learn from this episode is that God will do exactly what He has promised to do. Elisha promised that the Lord would fill the vessels, v. 4, and He did! He will keep all of His promises to you too! Not a single word in a single promise will fall to the ground unfulfilled! B. v. 6 The Limit Of God’s Provision – The oil flowed until the vessels ran out. When the day was done, every vessel was filled to the full. There was no limit on the amount of oil. The only limit was on the amount of vessels. God’s provision knew no limits in the widow’s case and it knows no limits in your case! God is able to meet every need, move every mountain, and solve every problem. His provision is limited by nothing but our faith. God stands ready to give all that you make room for in your life, no more and no less! If we can trust Him to take care of us and if we can get our vessels under the flow of His oil, there is nothing He can’t do. C. v. 7 The Largeness Of God’s Provision – When the day was done, there was enough oil in those borrowed vessels to settle her debts, meet her desires and supply her dependents! God’s supply was far more than sufficient! That is the kind of ability our Father possesses. He is able to do more than you can imagine, if you give Him the opportunity! Get your vessels to Him and watch Him fill them all. |