Like the fishermen following Jesus, Elisha gave up his prize belongings and work as a farmer to follow closely Elijah who called him. He stuck close to Elijah, and would not let him out of his sight. At the end of the day he wanted a double portion of the Spirit he saw on Elijah's life, and this was no bad thing.
With Elijah gone, Elisha is confronted by a widow. In despair, a victim of injustice, she cries for help. Elisha doesn't assume any kind of solution, but asks 'How can I help?' and 'What do you have?'. Important questions to ask - questions of engagement, starting right where the person is rather than our own portfolio of fixes.
Then it gets weird - with advice to round up some jars. The jars turn up, and each one is filled from the meagre amount of oil she started. This is prophetic action - sometimes you have to physically do to start seeing God at work. Presumably Elisha had some sense from God that He would act, though Elisha doesn't spell it out. Furthermore it engages the community - the resources are often around us!
God is clever - the oil runs out at the brim of the last jar. God knows exactly how much we need!
Do we seek to be close to Jesus, open to even greater amounts of His Spirit, wanting to live by His Spirit? In our Seeking to Worship, Seeking to Serve, are we prepared to see the needs and injustices in the society around us? Will we see them with our own 'fixit' eyes, or with eyes of faith whereby God shows us the resources? Can we put responsibility back into the hands of the very person who needs help, and engage the community around them?
Through it all will we trust God that there will be the right amount, even measured to the millilitre? Are we able to go out into the city and minister in the wonder of God's miraculous provision?
No comments:
Post a Comment