Who's Providing Solutions to Your Situations?
New Living Translation
WHAT DID GOD SAY TO ME THIS MORNING
How can I help you?
I want to start there this morning. Why? Because it’s Monday and some of you woke up and immediately began to think about all your problems, situations, hardships, etc. Society has programmed many of us to call this first day of the week, the Monday Blues. Isn’t that something? We kick off the business work week feeling down? But that’s not even what the blog is about this morning. LOL! I just realized how ironic that is that we wake up, think about all the things going on with us, and we get down about it.
I want to encourage you on this…let’s call it Manna Monday! Let’s reframe Monday and call it Manna Monday. See Manna is what was provided daily to the children of Israel when they were in the wilderness. They didn’t even have to ASK for it, God provided what He knew they needed daily. Which brings me to the conversation me and the Holy Spirit had this morning during prayer time: Who is providing solutions to your situations? Who is providing manna for your Monday?
When I opened my bible this morning to the scriptural surprise, it was 2 Kings 4. If you have been a reader of this blog for a while, you know the Lord has used this scripture before to share a Word with us. I am always fascinated and in awe of how God will take the exact same scripture and give a totally different message to me. If you’re not reading your bible, I encourage you to do it. I used to think it was boring too. I mean some parts of it can put you to sleep, like the parts where you are trying to read all those names or when land was being divided up among the different groups of people. It’s a lot to read and it’s not as interesting. But this story in 2 Kings, chapter 4 has a heart beside it in my bible. Now I put the heart there during another reading of this scripture because I apparently “loved” it. But this morning, it had nothing to do with “love” directly.
So let’s check out the conversation me and the Holy Spirit had about Elisha, the widow woman, and the woman from Shunem. Now right there, you already see who the characters are in the story. I have written two fiction books and establishing who the characters are in the story really draws the reader in. So let’s establish the characters. We have Elisha the prophet. We have a poor widow woman whose husband has died (but he was a fellow prophet of Elisha and served him), and then we have a wealthy woman from the town of Shunem.
Okay, you may have already heard or read for yourself, the story of the poor widow woman. She basically was in debt and the creditors were calling on her to pay up. They threatened her that if she didn’t pay, they would take her two sons and make them work as slaves to pay the debt. Now here is where the Holy Spirit showed me some characteristics of the poor widow woman.
The poor widow woman was in a tough situation and the creditors were threatening to take her sons. So she “cried out” to Elisha and told him what was going on. What is the message for us?
The poor widow woman shared what was going on in her life with someone who could help her. She didn’t go complaining to her sons. She didn’t call her girlfriend and complain about how her husband left her and her sons with all this debt. She didn’t go to the beauty shop complaining about how the creditors had lost their mind calling her late at night. She didn’t post any subliminal messages on social media about needing a new man who can pay for this and pay for that. She went to the prophet Elisha who knew her husband and what her husband was about. See her husband was a prophet who served Elisha. Her husband feared the Lord. Here’s what the Holy Spirit said: Who are you going to with your problems?
Elisha asked her two questions, but one of the questions was a bit rhetorical. He asked: “what can I do to help you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” Here’s how to know if you’re telling the right person about your problems. They ask what can they do to help AND they ask what do you have? When I looked at these two questions, I realized something. The prophet didn’t really give the woman time to answer the first question of what can I do to help. See many times, we don’t even know WHAT we need but when you tell the right person your problems, they move from asking what can I do to help right on into the next question…the action question. Bottomline: The right person asks the right questions to help you.
The poor widow woman answered the question. Now the way she answered the question is SO LIKE US! Elisha asked her what does she have in the house and her first reply is NOTHING AT ALL…pause pause pause pause (there is a comma in her response) and then she answers, EXCEPT a flask of olive oil. This part right here!!!! This is the part that encourages me. We have all we need, even if it takes us a minute or a pause to realize it. Some of us aren’t pausing. We just out here hollering about we ain’t got nothing. You got something! Pause and let the Holy Spirit bring it to your remembrance!!!
The poor widow woman was given instructions from Elisha and she obeyed immediately. Elisha told her, “GO borrow as many empty jars as she could from friends and neighbors. Then GO into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting them aside as they are filled.” Are you being obedient to the instructions that you have been given to help you with your problems? In 2Kings 4:5 it says the poor widow woman did as she was told.
The poor widow woman filled every jar up to the brim that she had with oil. The flow of the oil didn’t stop until she didn’t have any more jars. What are you being instructed to fill to the brim and you’re only doing it half-way because you scared you gonna run out? God told you what to do and you’re “being precautious” because in your mind, your “flask” can’t possibly fill all the “jars” in your life! So you take matters into your own hands and start only filling your jars half way so you can make sure you have enough. In your mind, a half full jar is better than nothing at all. But that’s not obedience. Not doing it exactly how God said do it, is actually disobedience!!!
The widow woman went from being poor to being an entrepreneur who made enough money to pay her debts and still have plenty to live off, not just for her, but for her sons too!!!!!!! This right here makes me shout!! Bottom line: when we obey exactly how God tells us to do it, we may not even see how it will make sense, but in faith, we obey to the brim (to the fullest possible way) and then we work as unto the Lord and He supplies MORE THAN ENOUGH!!
Now, I know I spent a lot of time on the widow woman (notice that I don’t call her poor anymore) and the next woman in 2 Kings, chapter 4 is the woman from Shunem. Here’s what the Holy Spirit shined a light on in her story:
She was wealthy and invited Elisha to come and eat every time he came to town.
She recognized that Elisha was a man of God and wanted to make a place for him in her home where he could rest. She extended her hospitality from just serving him food, but now she had made her home a bed and breakfast for the prophet. The Holy Spirit brought this question to mind: Who are YOU being kind to and providing service to? How can you go above and beyond what you’re already doing for them?
Elisha appreciated the woman’s kindness so much, he asked what he could do for HER? Guess what the woman’s first response was? NOTHING…I’m good! Here we have two women that Elisha has encountered and both of their initial responses to his question was NOTHING!! I just need to pause right now and say to the women, let’s stop acting like we don’t need NOTHING. Don’t answer NOTHING so fast! I know the Holy Spirit is telling ME that right now. Stop acting like you don’t need anything Fon (insert your name here).
The woman didn’t ask Elisha for anything, but Elisha’s servant made a suggestion after noticing that even though this woman was wealthy and married, she didn’t have a son. So guess what? Elisha told her that one year from now, you will be nursing an infant son. Y’all I just love how the Shunammite woman replied when Elisha told her that she would have a son. She was like, “Man of God, stop playing!” LOL! In the message bible, she said “don’t play games with me, teasing me with such fantasies.” In the New Living Translation, she said “Please don’t lie to me like that, man of God.” I can see this woman in my spiritual imagination like…”Nah look now…don’t be coming up in here talking about I’m going to have a son. You seen my old husband. You doing too much nah man of God with all this baby talk.” LOL LOL LOL LOL!! Can you see her? LOL!
The woman has a son but when he got older, he got sick and died. She went straight back to Elisha, like, man of God, I didn’t even ask for a son. I told you not to get my hopes all high. Elisha immediately provided a solution to her problem. Bottom line: When he Lord blesses you with it, He will take care of it, no matter if you think it’s a dead situation!!!!!!! Just trust that God will take care of it! The boy lived after Elisha went in the same room that the woman had built for Elisha to rest. That room ended up becoming not a room of rest but a room of RESTORATION!!!!! JESUS!! Come on y’all. That’s a run around the house, office, car moment right there alone!! When you honor God, He will most certainly honor you!!!!
I know yall think this is the longest blog ever but this chapter in 2 Kings is pregnant with so much power and encouragement for us!! We want solutions to our problems, but we don’t get them because we are 1) Not sharing that we have a problem. We keeping it to ourselves. 2) If we are sharing it, we sharing it with the wrong people, who can’t help us. 3) If we are sharing it with the right people and they give us a solution, we aren’t obeying it exactly. We still trying to solve our own problems by doing it how we want to do it or just following certain parts of their instructions. Then we wonder why it’s still not working out!
The widow shared her problems with someone who could help her! The woman from Shunem shared her home and her food, out of kindness, not even looking for help. They both shared their problems with the prophet who provided the solutions.
Who are you sharing your problems and situations with? Who are you sharing your kindness with?
I pray that it’s God! He can handle it all and He loves when you honor Him with what you already have!
Hearts and Hugs!
SALVATION PRAYER
If you’re not a believer and have a desire to be, openly confess and declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). When you pray that prayer out loud, you are saved. Get connected with a good, bible-based church in your community and start having a conversation through prayer with God every day. And let me be the first to welcome you to your new life with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. YAAAAY!!!!! You made the best decision you could ever make! Feel free to email me at info@onassignmentbyGod.com and let me know about your newfound life or if you need prayer for anything.
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