Will I Trust God?

Our greatest challenge is trusting God with all our needs. There is an Old Testament story about facing a crisis that addresses this important issue, “Will I trust God with each crisis or not?” The answer to that question is critical to the success of our Christian experience. It is a tough thing to trust God. It’s not natural. Most of us are inclined to trust our instincts and be guided by our experience. We often have to suspend logic and even our desire for comfort to trust God. Here is the story summarized from 2 Kings 4:1-7.

A poor widow went to the prophet Elisha for help because of her dire situation. It was so bad her sons would be taken to pay her debts. Elisha asked, “What do you have in your house?” She replied, “Nothing really, except a little oil.” Elisha instructed her to gather all the jars she could get her hands on, including borrowing from her neighbors. Then, the prophet said to fill up each jar with her oil. She did as he had directed; she began pouring, and the oil flowed until every jar filled. She could sell the oil, pay the debts, and live on the proceeds.

Most of us minimize our gifts as this lady did. There is no challenge too big for God. By the same token, God’s gifts are not measured by big and little, great or small. God used one small stone in David’s hand to bring Goliath down and one boy’s lunch to feed five thousand. “I have nothing except a little oil” describes our scarcity mentality. God’s solution not only supplied the need but was also meant to teach the woman to not despise what she had.

God wanted this lady and her sons to expand their faith. They would need more empty jars than they possessed. She was told to get as many as she could find. “Don’t ask for just a few,” the prophet said. When she had collected all the jars, she was to start pouring and not stop until every jar was filled. Once she had filled all the jars, the oil stopped flowing. This is the part that belongs to God. It is the miraculous. It is the part where having done our part, God then does the rest. My question is, “Can you trust God to meet your needs?” God can do anything, but we must trust him and not despise the gifts he has already given us.