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LESSONS FROM ELISHA, PART 5: Nothing but a Little Oil

by | Nov 21, 2015 | Lessons From Elisha (A Mini-Series)

There are MANY lessons that we can learn from the prophet Elisha. This is the fifth in a series, appearing in the next few Saturday editions of The Nugget, focusing on the life of this great prophet.

“Elisha replied to her, ‘How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?’ ‘Your servant has nothing there at all,’ she said, ‘except a little oil.'”
(2 Kings 4:2).

The widow of one of the company of prophets is in dire need. If she cannot come up with money to pay off her debts, her sons will be taken away from her. In despair, she goes to Elisha, and Elisha asks her the following question: “Tell me, what do you have in your house?” (2 Kings 4:2)

I don’t know about you, but I find this question very interesting! The poor woman obviously has nothing except her two sons or she wouldn’t be in this predicament at all! Nonetheless, Elisha asks her what she has in her house!

I believe the woman must have been surprised by the question as well, for she answers, “Your servant has nothing there at all”! And then, as if an after thought, she adds, “except a little oil.”

Two major lessons can be learned from this brief verse.

First of all, God doesn’t need a lot to work with! But He does need something. He needs for us to be willing to give all that we have, trusting Him to make it be enough!

Secondly, the word “oil” is used throughout the Bible as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Through this story, God is helping us to understand that if we have the Holy Spirit, nothing else is necessary! A little bit of God’s Spirit is enough to solve all of our problems!

Let us seek nothing but a little bit of oil in our lives, my friends!  Even if we have nothing else, God can use His Spirit to work out every problem we face!

Let’s put our trust in the Holy Spirit, my friends! Let us seek Him above all else!

See next Saturday’s edition of The Nugget for Elisha, Part 6.

Love in Christ,

Lyn

Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org , ]]>

(To access the entire “Lessons From Elisha” mini-series, please click here.)

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