HEART THOUGHTS from Helen

One Drop Remaining

“Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” and she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” (2 Kings 4:2 NASB)

I wonder …If there were but one drop left in your cup, what would you do with it?
Back in December of 1981, our family of four emptied our house into a moving van and left every familiar face and moved to a small town in rural South Carolina to pastor our first church, while Dennis finished seminary. Since my salary as a nurse ceased and his salary as minister of youth /activities at a large church dropped dramatically, we decided we’d stock up on some food stuffs. We purchased a case of macaroni/cheese, a case of Rice-a-Roni, a case of corned beef hash and I don’t remember what else. It evolved into a joke in our home what was for dinner each night. We had a set routine and it varied very little and the house usually entertained visitors unawares and sometimes unannounced. I wondered what it would be like to live in such uncertain circumstances. We never hungered … physically nor spiritually.

The Shunamite woman came to the prophet Elisha with a story of emptiness.

• First he told her to gather jars from all the neighbors.
• Secondly, she was to pour out what little oil she had into the borrowed jars.

This woman, freshly widowed, fearing for the captivity of her sons to pay her debts, wondered what her decision would cost her. In her emptiness she poured out herself and her oil in obedience to this man of God, trusting.

When she began to pour, miraculously, more and more oil flowed from her jar. The borrowed vessels filled until there were no more. As soon as the supply was full, the flow of oil ceased.

Would you be obedient enough to pour out the last drop in your cup?

What would happen if you did?

What will happen if you don’t?

I wonder…