Never Empty

2 Kings 4:³ “…Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. ⁴ Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars…” ⁷ “…sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”

Life is not a straight line, things happen to us. We get battered and we lose stuff. But the mistake most people make is to lose hope because of the things they have lost. A lot of people do not say it but from the way they carry on, it is clear that they are hopeless. As the year draws to a close, most people like to reflect on events past. However, if you focus enough on the things you have lost, you will become disturbed and hopeless. I have good news for you today; your miracle is not in what you have lost, your miracle is in what you have left. Your destiny is not in the spouse you lost, or in the child you lost, or in the job you lost. Your destiny is not in what has gone, and I will show you from the scripture.

Back in Bible times, a woman without a husband was extremely vulnerable. The husband was the woman’s covering, her provider, her protector, her everything. However, in 2 kings 4, we meet this woman who had lost her husband, had no wealth and now the creditors were threatening to take away her sons, her only hope. This woman was practically hopeless. However, when she came to Elisha, his focus was not on what she had lost but on what she had left. 2 Kings 4:² “What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” Her first response was, “Nothing at all” but Elisha knew too well that God does not leave anyone empty – everybody has something. If your future were to be in the things you have lost, you would not have lost them.

If your destiny were to be in the people that walked out of your life, they would not have done so. The fact that they were able to walk out means they are not part of the next chapter. The fact that they were able to walk out means that chapter has closed and another one is about to begin. But can you believe God for a great future? Are you willing to let the past be in the past and trust God for what lies ahead? Elisha probably insisted, there must be something you have, and the widow said he left a jar of oil. He did not have money, but he had oil.

Even if a prophet does not have money, the prophet must never lack “oil”. It is actually a bad thing for a prophet to have money and not have “oil”. That would be double jeopardy. Elisha was able to help her because of what she had left and not what she did not have. Elisha told her what to do with the oil and she did exactly as she was told. Some people think they have superior ideas and would not obey. Obedience is better than sacrifice; that oil changed her story.

Prayer: Father, I thank You because my times and seasons are in Your hands. My future is hinged on You and You alone, in Jesus Name. Amen!