I don't have much to offer

     I was reading from 2 Kings 4 the other day in my devotions and was reminded about an important principle.  It's not "how much" I have to offer to the Lord that is important.  It's how much of what I have, that I'm willing to use for His glory.
     The first 7 verses of the chapter I mentioned talk about a woman whose husband died.  He left her with 2 children and a great deal of debt.  She ran out of any substance she had to pay the creditors and finally was in danger of losing her children to slavery to satisfy the debt.
     When she cried to Elisha, he asked her what resources she had.  She responded by saying that all she had left was a jar with some oil in it.  Oil was a precious commodity, since it was used in so much cooking and also for its healing properties.  She had just a little bit in a jar.  It wasn't enough to do much of anything.
     Elisha's response was to tell her to go and borrow as many jars as she could from neighbors...and not to just get a few, but a whole bunch of them.  She did so, and she and her sons started pouring from the existing oil into the vessels they had borrowed.  When she filled all the vessels, the oil stopped flowing and Elisha told her to go sell the oil and satisfy the debt.
     A couple of encouraging thoughts I glean from this little passage:
  • Elisha didn't just accomplish what she could not.
  • He asked her to give what she had to the cause.
  • The woman was to exercise faith and prepare for something big.
  • She was to get her focus off of what little she had and onto the possibilities.
  • The woman obeyed what she knew to do.
  • She watched God provide exactly what she needed.
     As I consider what God wants to do through me today (and tomorrow, and next year, etc.), do I see my resources as minimal compared to the challenge?  God takes what is minimal, when I make it available, and does the incredible.  And when it happens like that, He gets all the glory; I get to be part of something much larger than myself, and wonderful things happen.
     Do you feel like you have very little to offer and that what you have won't accomplish much?  Offer it to God and watch Him do something really special.  If you'd like some additional perspective on this idea, I wrote about it here just about a month ago (must be God is working on reminding me of something).

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