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One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food.

2 Kings 4:8
The first thing we are told about this woman is that she had been blessed financially. God had blessed her, and she wanted to bring blessing to others.
One way she could do this was to give hospitality to the prophet Elijah. Now she took it a step further. She told her husband, “I know that this is a holy man of God... Let us make a small room… and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp” (4:9-10).
This woman was blessed, and she wanted to be a blessing to others. Elisha wanted to return her kindness, so he asked what he could do for her. She replied, “I dwell among my own people” (4:13). This is a wonderful expression of contentment. “What more could I want?”
But she did not have a child. This had likely been a great disappointment, but she had come to a point of accepting it. “God has blessed me, and I am content.”
Elisha told her, “About this time next year, you shall embrace a son” (4:16). The woman’s reaction was one of caution. “No, my lord… do not lie to your servant” (4:16). But God was true to His Word, and “the woman conceived, and she bore a son” (4:17).
If you are in Christ today, you are greatly blessed. Whatever hardship you face, whatever gift you have not been given, whatever disappointment you know, in Jesus Christ you are supremely blessed.
God has set His love on you. God has sent His Son for you. The Holy Spirit lives in you, and He is always working for your ultimate good.

What disappointments have you wrestled with? Where do you see God’s blessing?

My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19
The story of the widow’s oil points us very wonderfully to our Lord Jesus. Think about what God did for her sons. He paid their debt. He saved them from slavery. He gave them a future. This is what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.
Jesus paid our debt
We owe it to God to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We owe it to our neighbours to love them as we love ourselves. None of us has paid the debt that we owe. Jesus took our debt on Himself and paid it in full on the cross.
Jesus sets us free
God saved the widow’s sons from an awful future as slaves. But Jesus has saved us from an even more horrendous future trapped in hell forever!
Jesus said, “Everyone who practises sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). Then He said, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (8:36). God saves us from being sin’s slaves. He brings us into glorious freedom through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus will give us a glorious future
He said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (10:10). Jesus gives eternal life. And it is by believing that we have this life in His name (20:31).
“My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). God will sustain you by the power and presence of His Holy Spirit. You will have all that you need for all that you face in your journey from here to heaven.

Thank God for His promise that He will supply your every need.

Your servant my husband is dead, and... the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.

2 Kings 4:1
Let’s look at this story from the perspective of the two boys. It’s striking how often they are mentioned, and it is through their eyes that we see these two truths.
1. God works for our freedom
These two boys had quite a story to tell. If one of them could tell us his story, he might say,
I’ll never forget the day that creditor came. His words felt like a death sentence. I was about to become a slave. But then God stepped in! As the oil kept coming from the jar, we witnessed the grace and kindness of God, poured out in our home. When we sold the oil, our debt was paid. Instead of being slaves we were free!2. God works for our joy
“The man of God… said, ‘Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest’” (4:7). God did more than pay off the debt. He provided a rich future. If one of her sons was here today, he might say,
I didn’t know this at the time, but when Elisha said, “You and your sons can live on the rest,” he was telling us that we would have enough to start a small business. And we did very well with it. God did more than pay our debt. He provided for our future life.God works with what He has already given. God works through our faith and obedience. God works for our freedom and joy.

In what area do you need God’s freedom? Where do you need His joy?

Then [Elisha] said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbours, empty vessels and not too few.”

2 Kings 4:3
Notice, there was something for this woman to do. God provided for her as she walked in faith and obedience. God is not limited by our faith or by our obedience, but He calls us to be actively engaged in the means by which He provides.
Elisha was a prophet, and the word of the prophet was the Word of God to her. “Go… borrow vessels from all your neighbours” (4:3). That was a command for her to obey.
Then Elisha said, “and not too few” (4:3). He called her to exercise faith. “Don’t underestimate what God can do! Walk in obedience and anticipate God’s blessing.”
Elisha told her, “Go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside” (4:4).
Then we read, “She went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her” (4:5). She did exactly what Elisha had said.
One son placed an empty jar on the table, the other son took the full one, and the woman kept pouring. She would say, “Another jar!” Until at last, her son said, “There is not another,” and the oil stopped flowing (4:6).
Oil flowed from the little jar as long as there were jars to fill. If the woman had not obeyed the command to borrow the jars, the oil would not have flowed.
The widow’s faith and obedience were woven into what God did for her. It was as she obeyed that God acted. And it will be the same for us. God will provide as we walk in faith and obedience.

Ask God to help you walk in obedience so that nothing will hinder you from receiving what God wants to give.

Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.”

2 Kings 4:2
There is something important here about how to help a person in need. The first question is, “What do you have?” What do you have that you could sell to pay this debt? God works with what He has already provided.
God is not limited to working with what He has already provided. But this is a pattern that we see often in the Bible.
The most obvious example is when a vast crowd gathered to hear Jesus in a remote place. After many hours they were hungry. Jesus said to His disciples, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see” (Mark 6:38).
So they went to see what God had already provided. “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” (John 6:9).
But God worked with these five loaves and two fish. In the hands of Jesus, they fed a multitude. Jesus could have created food out of nothing. But He worked with the loaves and fish that were placed in His hands.
You can see the same pattern in this story: “What do you have in the house?” “Nothing… except a jar of oil.” God could have created oil out of nothing. But He worked with the oil He had already given.
In any situation of need, look at what God has given you already. What gifts do you have? What friends, opportunities, and resources? These may be the things God works with to provide for you.

What resources has God given you that He can work with in your circumstances today?