Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Not until We've Satisfied You!

"Then he said, "Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. Then 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." 2 Kings 4:3-4
                                                                                 
Kad waved to her sons. "Hurry," she muttered under her breath. She looked around nervously, glancing over her shoulder, and up and down the streets in case her creditor had come back early. Satisfied that for now they were safe, she shifted the jars in her arms.

Her sons, Shemen and Yitshar, ran towards her. Each with jars of their own. Shemen was a young, strong man of 17 summers, and Yitshar was only three summers behind his older brother. It was no wonder that the creditor sought to pay her debts by taking them.

"We've got nine more." Shemen nodded his head to the jars in his and Yitshar's arms.

"Good, good." Let's go drop these off at home, and find some more. Kad started walking in the direction of their meager home. She heard their footsteps behind her. Minutes later they arrived at their home. Kad pushed open the little door, and set her armload of jars down. The boys did the same thing. The entire floor of the front room was filled with pots.

"Ima, isn't this enough? Why are we going to get more jugs?" Yitshar looked at her confusedly.

She took a step over and framed Yitshar's face with her hands. "Because Elisha said to borrow vessels from all of our neighbors, and not too few, either."

"Ima," Shemen took her hand with his left hand and motioned with his right hand to the room littered with jars of all shapes and sizes. "Look. This isn't too few. This is many."

"Boys," She gave them stern looks. "We are going to get more vessels, and we are not going to stop until I am satisfied that I've done exactly what the man of God said to do."

She sighed. The last few years had been so hard. She was desperate, but she would not quit. So she wouldn't stop until they had gathered every available jar in the the town. She softened her tone. "Come on. Let's go get some more."

Based on 2 Kings 4-3-4

How do you define "a few?" The definition of "few" is, "a small number of." So Elisha literally told this woman to borrow empty vessels from all her neighbors, and not too small a number. But where would we have stopped with a few? Nine is a few when regarding penny's, but a lot when your talking about elephants. It depends on the situation. This situation was dire. It was desperate. If she didn't get some money quick, her sons would be seized and used as slaves.

I think the woman gathered A LOT of vessels. 2 Kings 4:7 says, "She came and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest." The money from this oil wasn't just enough to pay off her debts, but for them to be able to eat and drink and buy clothes. There was enough money for them to live. It wasn't just a little bit left over, enough to buy them a meal and them it was back to trying to figure out what to do. All their needs were met!

That woman didn't stop getting vessels until she was satisfied that she hadn't gotten a few, but a lot! I think most of us, would have felt embarrassed or awkward, and would have given up after we had gathered a small amount. She didn't because she couldn't afford to not try.

Today, we have the mindset that we can afford to not try. We think it won't work. We think it's stupid. We think it's foolish. We have no desperation. We need to develop a desperation, a burning desire to do the things of God. To not stop at a few, but to go, go, go until we are satisfied that we have done just as He wanted all along.

"But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded."
Chronicles 15:7

Don't let your spiritual hands be weak! We need to learn to be gatherers of many, and not of few.

"With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!" Psalm 119:10

Lord, we want to seek You with our whole hearts, and not just a little. We don't want to stop until we KNOW we've done it, until we've satisfied You!

V. Joy Palmer

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