Locating Oil?

‘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’ 2 Kings 4:2.

Again, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the prophet did not have money in the house but he had oil. It would be a disaster if the prophet had money and didn’t have oil. Pause and calmly think about this. We have established that oil is something of value that you are good at, that you enjoy doing, and you will get paid for. If you have something that you enjoy doing and you get paid for but you are not good at it, then you are about to be fired. This is the simple truth. Christians sometimes have this entitlement mentality. You find people who believe that because they are christians and are working in the church they cannot get fired. I am sorry but I do not share that point of view. Incompetence can get you fired. Yes, we love each other and are one family; but no boss should have to put up with incompetence, even Pastors. In one of the churches in the north, a lady ran to her Pastor to complain that her boss was always persecuting her because she was a christian. So her Pastor invited her to work in the church office. She had been functioning as a secetary in her previous job so she took up the same role at the church office. Naturally, the Pastor dictated a letter to her and asked her to type it out. When the pastor saw the letter and the kind of errors it had, he said ‘your boss is a very nice man’. We tend to hide medeocrity under christainity. If you are enjoying it, you are getting money, but you are not good at it, you are about to be fired.

I run a software firm and for me my oil is programming. I enjoy writing software, I am good at it, and I get paid for it. That is oil. Ministry wise by God’s grace, I am gifted to teach. I can take a complex idea and make it very simple. That is what a teacher does. I say to people, I am not a prophet but I can teach prophetically, envangelically, apostolically, and in so many other ways. But at the core of my gifting is teaching. So I focus on it and I read passionately in a quest for knowledge. Reading enlarges my vessel thereby allowing for more oil. What is your oil?

Prayer: Father, please help me locate my oil and give me the grace to focus on it for Your glory, in Jesus Name.