“She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring” (II King 4:5).
The two fatherless boys ran back and forth throughout the town. The town’s people saw them carrying many empty bottles, vases, and containers. They borrowed any container that could hold liquid. In those days, the oil used for eating and for making fire was the same type. They brought the bottles homes and then started going out again to borrow some more. When they could not find any more containers to borrow, the mother and her two sons closed their front door. They took their oil canister and started pouring the oil into the empty bottles; and miraculously the oil did not stop until all the containers were full.
The widow begged of the prophet Elisha and she was told how to be the receiver of a miracle. Everything was dependent upon her faith and her sons’ faith. If they even doubted the instructions of the prophet, or if they went out to borrow but were hesitant and afraid to borrow too many bottles; surely the blessing could not bring them as much happiness as it had that day.
We long for miracles from God in our lives; but we wait for those miracles to occur with doubt in our mind and with a passive attitute! The widow and her sons ran to borrow the containers even before they saw a single drop of oil start flowing; that is what we call real faith. They did not wait until the oil started to appear before they started borrowing the containers. They did not borrow a few containers to see if the miracle would really happen before they went out and borrowed more. No! Faith does not give us permission to have a backup plan and miracles will not allow any opportunity for us to be doubtful . A doubtful heart has no place in receiving blessings from God. The widow and her sons closed the door and started pouring the oil, and the oil did not stop pouring until all of the containers were full!
Do we have enough faith to obey God even when we do not see a miracle yet? Let us practice living by faith!
Faith gives us the ability to act even though there is no indication that a miracle might happen. Doubt is the eternal enemy of faith.
Pastor Thoai Duong
