Have you ever had something so precious in your life that you loved so much & believed that you could not live without? I believe all of us have had at least 1 of this type of thing. Most of the time these “things” that seem so valuable to us, are just objects that really don’t serve our basic needs.
Picture this: what if you were asked to give up this one precious thing that you believed was essential? What if, in its exchange, you only received a promise. It was a good promise, one of abundance that would come to you & be yours in the future. However, for the time being, you would not receive anything you would be able to physically see. For me, that would be a little scary. I could not imagine throwing away an essential possession for a chance for more; especially when there is no guarantee that I would actually be receiving this blessing. Even if the person promising DID indeed guarantee a return on my priceless investment. I would wonder, could this person really be trusted?
In 1st Kings verse 17, Elijah encounters a widow and asks her for some water to drink and bread to eat. To her despair, she explains to him, “I only have but one last meal to share with my son and then surely we will die.” This lady is in the peak of her desperation and truly is facing the end of her life. Well, that didn’t stop Elijah. He then proceeds to tell her to go and cook their last meal and serve him FIRST! Before she ever serves her son & herself. He tells her that what he doesn’t eat, and is leftover she can have.
I don’t know about you but I be very hesitant! I would have probably said something like, “WHOA! I’m not about to give up my last meal for you! You are better off than my son and I. Can’t you see that we are about to die? No way brother!”
When you look back at the scripture, the widow had done exactly as Elijah had instructed her to do. He then gave her as he had told her; a promise from God. Well lo and behold both her and her son had lived! Not only did they live, but they did so with much abundance and blessing!
In 2 Kings 4, we now find a story of a woman faced with losing her sons to a creditor she owes money to where they become slaves and work off her debt. Elisha asks, “What do you have in the house?” The woman then reply’s, “I have nothing except a jar of oil.” Elisha then tells her to go and borrow as many empty jars as she can and to start pouring out the oil that she does have fill up the jars. She obeyed what he had told her to do and returned to him telling him that she had filled every jar in her home up & until she ran out. Listen to this: every jar was FILLED with only the small amount of oil that she had left in her home! She was then able to go out and sell the oil she had collected and pay off ALL of her debt. This woman had taken something that she felt was so insignificant, yet she obeyed and trusted God to multiply it. He did! Not just a little either…
Are you willing to give up your most valuable possession and allow God to bring blessing through your obedience and sacrifice? Or, maybe you think that what you do have is so insignificant, and holds no value and is not enough to make a real difference. God is not limited by what you do or do not have. He is truly ready to take what you can give to Him. If you simply are obedient and give all you have, large or small to Him, he will surely supply all of your needs. The question is, are we ready to go “all in” on what God is ready to do? I believe He is waiting to see if we are willing to call satin’s bluff and lay all our cards down on Jesus. With Christ, it is not a gambling thing, it is a guarantee! We will be blessed abundantly, as long as we are giving our best to Jesus! No matter the cost! Remember, He owns what you have already have, so give it back to Him. You just may be surprised what He does in return for your obedience.
Written By ~ Ronny Clark
Ronny is our College Ministry Director
