#78. Down But Not Out
So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”
II Kings 4:2 NKJV
Peter and John went to the temple shortly after the day of Pentecost and met a man who was more than forty years old and lame from birth. Each day he was carried to the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those going into the temple. Hoping to receive some money, he looked to Peter and John and Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (Acts 3:1-10). Immediately his feet and ankle bones were restored and he went walking and leaping into the temple all the while praising God.
Like that lame man in Jerusalem, so the widow in Israel was helpless against the impending calamity facing the remainder of her family.
The widow looked for help from Elisha and presented a sizeable financial need. Eviction notices and past due utility bills do not come close to the pressure of having one’s two sons taken into slavery as this woman faced. Surely Elisha would give the woman money! But he did not. Elisha wanted her faith to be strengthened through this process and all generations to learn something from this widow of the salvation of the Lord. Instead of giving money, Elisha asked the woman two questions: What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?
The first question seemed to acknowledge the prophets’ lack of wealth while the second question acknowledged the abundance of the Lord’s mercy. The prophets were in hiding for many years, hated and mocked by many of the residents of the towns, so money was difficult to come by. Often times when Christians are persecuted they are forbidden from stable means of income and uses of their God-given talents. Poverty can come quickly even with hard work and without any sin on the individual’s part. Debt is a likely acquaintance of such circumstances. This prophet who died feared the Lord, so it is unlikely the debt was tied to any particular sinful behaviors. Elisha was once a man with considerable means but had given that up for the riches of telling people the word of the Lord. Silver and gold Elisha did not have for the widow: “What shall I do for you?” But, such as Elisha had, the double portion of Elijah’s spirit, he would do for her all that the Lord would provide: “Tell me, what do you have in your house?”*
A stranger asked me for cash a few months ago. I told him I did not have any cash but as a Christian I would like to help as I could. I asked about his present circumstances and he responded that he needed cash, would I help? When I inquired again into his circumstances he said a few rough words and left. When Elisha asked the faithful widow what she had, she did not turn away in disgust, but out of the abundance of her need, she told of her current material possessions. Inside her house she had nothing but a jar of oil. Everything else seems to have been sold to pay the creditors. Perhaps like the widow of Zarephath she was storing a small amount to make one last meal for her family before they were taken away.
Notice the faith of this woman. Like her husband, she clearly feared the Lord and trusted that in every situation the Lord can and would provide. Though Elisha loved the prophets and their families very much, the events that follow do not testify to Elisha’s great benevolence; rather they testify to the mercy and love of the Lord which endures forever for His people.
Friends, in this life the Lord does not always provide in the way we expect. The most the lame man hoped for was some money from Peter and John. Instead, he listened to the apostles and received healing from the Lord in a way he probably had stopped hoping for. When Elisha did not produce money, the widow did not lose hope but maintained her trust in the Lord. Let us not hope in a particular outcome from the Lord but hope in the Lord Himself. He provides far more abundantly than we can imagine or think.
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