Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. (2 Kings 4:3)
You may be familiar with the story in 2 Kings 4—a widow approached the prophet Elisha and asked for help. Her husband, part of Elisha's team of prophets, had just died, and the creditors were threatening to take her two boys as slaves.
Elisha asked her (vs.2), “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
She replied that she had “nothing at all except a small jar of olive oil.”
Then came the astonishing directive from Elisha, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side” (vs. 3-4).
Two things strike me about Elisha's instructions: 1) he asked the widow to use what she had, little though it was, and 2) he asked her to reach out for help in a way that was not hugely imposing.
As the widow steps out in faithful obedience, the same God who would later use a few tiny loaves and fish to feed thousands used a little olive oil to fill many empty jars.
Without drawing too many parallels with the story, I, too, step out in faith, and ask you, my friends and neighbors to lend me your jars by visiting this website often, and by sharing the website and blog with as many as you can. And may the God who multiplies cause an overflow of the oil of joy, hope and healing.
