The Widow's Oil

Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves." 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 except a jar of oil." Then he said, "Go, borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, even empty vessels; do not get a few. And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all these vessels, and you shall set aside what is full." So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing the vessels to her and she poured. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "There is not one vessel more." And the oil stopped. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest." 2nd Kings 4:1-7

I was reminded of this passage today and how gracious God is to those in need. This widow had a debt that she could not pay and she was becoming desperate. All she had left were her sons, who were about to be taken from her, and a tiny jar of oil. I think it is to her credit that she carried out the instructions that Elisha gave her, because to me they would have seemed rather odd. But in faith, she did as she was told and God richly blessed her! He supplied all of her needs, even beyond what she needed because Elisha tells her that after paying off her debt she and her family would have enough to live on. This widow was placed in a position of total reliance upon God, and He was faithful to meet all of her needs. Why do we doubt Him when he is "able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think?"