What Do YOU Have In The House?

2 Kings 4:1-2 NASB: “Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, ‘Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.’ 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.’” You know the story.

God’s glory and His power to perform spectacular miracles far exceeds anything we can wrap our finite little minds around, but He often prefers to choose very simple (and simple-minded) things to bring His Word and purposes into reality. Perhaps you are a “McGuyver” type who is very resourceful at repairing things or solving problems. That is a gift from God (although we’re sometimes guilty of taking credit for our gifts). God’s resourcefulness is – more often than not – manifested through subtle methods, using small, insignificant, common, and sometimes, unusual things. Think about some of them…

Isaiah puts a “fig newton” on Hezekiah’s boil and heals him. (Isaiah 38:21)

Elisha uses a stick to make an ax head float and throws some salt in a bad well to purify the water. (II Kings chapters 2 and 6).

Jesus tells Peter to use a fish hook to pay the taxes (Matthew 17:27).

A cup of water given in Jesus’ name has eternal significance (Matthew 10:42).

Spittle and clay is used to restore eyesight (Mark 8:22).

Elijah is fed by ravens, then preserves his life and others with a little flour and some oil (I Kings chapter 17).

Thousands are fed with a few loaves and some small fish (Mark chapter 8).

A (not so dumb) donkey speaks to a wayward prophet (Numbers chapter 22).

God has chosen the “weak and foolish things” to baffle the wise (I Corinthians 1:27).

The Son of God makes His earthly debut as a little baby (Luke chapter 1).

God delights in using what is available, and that includes YOU. He is not so much interested in your talents and abilities as he is in those areas in which you are lacking; those things for which you cannot possibly take the credit when God moves. God is much more concerned with availability than talent. There are often times when God is waiting for us to exhaust our own resources so that He can glorify Himself in our struggles and our crises.

As T. Austin Sparks said regarding Jesus’ dead friend Lazarus:

“…the Holy Spirit is very careful to stress and emphasize one thing, namely, that the Lord Jesus will not touch the thing until it is far, far removed from any human remedy. He will not come on to the scene, or into association with it, until from all human standpoints it is bankrupt, it is at zero”…”The glory of God is in resurrection, and therefore love demands that everything shall come to the place where only resurrection will meet the situation; no curing of things, no remedying of the old man.”

Jesus did not put on a show. He just cried out three simple words: “Lazarus, come forth!”