A little oil left in my lamp

The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out(complained) to Elisha "Your servant my husband is dead and you know he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves." Elisha replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have (of value) in your house?" " Your servant has nothing there at all," she said, "except a little oil" Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't just ask for a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each one is filled, put it to one side." She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "bring me another one." But he replied, "There is not a jar left." The the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left." 2 Kings 4:1-7

I’m going to come at this verse from a different angle than most today.

Often, when this verse is broken down people refer to the oil as finances, love, faith, or some physical need.

I read something this morning about the Holy Spirit being referred to as “oil” and 2 Kings 4 came to mind, as well as an old school oil lamp!

When we are tired, weak, worn out & we don’t have the energy to do what God is asking us to do, that’s when we have but “a little oil left in our lamp” & it’s on the verge of burning out.

I know from experience that when I get to that point, I can just about drag myself out of bed in the morning, let alone have the brain power to sit and read Gods word…and to be quite honest, I just want to lay in bed for a little longer, rather than spending time with God. But He showed me this past weekend when I hit a breaking point that I need to stop, look inside myself and give Him what I do have.

In 2 Kings 4 Elisha asks the lady what she has… “a little oil” she replies… He tells her to go & collect jars (To GET UP & DO something) & then take what she has (A small amount of “oil” = The Holy Spirit) and pour what she has into what she went out to get.

When you take a small step to show God you are willing, He will increase what you do have to where it is overflowing.

The light of my spirit was just about snuffed out, but when I stopped my complaining & whining about being tired, got up & pushed myself beyond what I felt like doing & took that first step to show God that I am willing, He gave me immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine (Eph 3:20)

If you are feeling burned out today & haven’t spent time with God in a while… force yourself to carve out a small amount of time in your day that you can give to Him…so that He can increase your strength & you can press on to what God has call you to do! & as Paul says in Philippians

Phil 3:14  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.