To the nations...

This may be my last post for a while. I leave for Hawaii this morning, where I have some meetings for my work with the University of the Nations. (More information is in my August newsletter.) It may be a few weeks until I have internet access again. Thanks again for your prayers..

The second widow: a story of empty containers

Last week I told you that I had been reading the stories of two widows. The second widow's story is found in 2 Kings 4: 1 - 6. This one only has “a small jar of oil” when the story begins, but the prophet Elisha tells her to go around and borrow as many empty containers as possible from her friends and neighbours. So the woman goes around everyone she knows and gathers as many jugs and jars as she can. Then she starts to pour from her little jar of oil, and the oil miraculously just keeps flowing and flowing. I can imagine that this woman’s friends were just as excited as she was to hear about this miracle and to know that they had been part of making it possible.

As I prayed about this story, I realised that I had been feeling embarrassed to keep on asking people to pray about my financial situation - about the fact that I still don't have sufficient monthly income to cover my living costs and ministry costs when I move to Spain next month. I think I sometimes fear that speaking about finances would offend people – that they would think I want them to feel sorry for me, or that they would feel manipulated and think I’m “hinting” that I need money. But this isn’t the case at all. I haven’t felt that God is telling me to ask anyone for money, but I have felt that I’ve to keep asking for prayer. I am very dependent on people’s prayers in this time of stepping into something new, something that is just much “too big” for me financially. In the story of the second widow, she didn’t ask her neighbours to give her the oil that she needed to live on. What she actually did was to ask them for “empty containers,” and then it was God who filled the containers for her. I felt God showed me that people’s prayers are like the “empty containers” that those neighbours gave to the woman in the story. In the NIV translation, Elisha specifically tells the widow, “Don’t ask for just a few; ask for as many as you can” - because when the containers ran out, the oil ran out too.

As I read this story, I felt God put on my heart that I am not just to ask once or twice for prayer, but I am to keep on asking for as many “empty containers” as possible; I am not to feel embarrassed about asking people to pray for my financial needs - because I’m not asking them for oil, I’m asking for their empty containers - and these people will share in the miracle: the blessing of seeing answered prayer when God fills the containers.

I’m sure that the people who gave containers to this widow had their faith boosted by seeing God do a miracle and knowing that their containers had been part of it. If you are one of the people who has committed to partner with me in prayer, I'd like to say a really big thank you for that. I promise that I'll let you know the exciting story of how your empty containers get filled up by God.

The first widow: a story of flour and oil

No, the flour and oil in this story aren't in a recipe for making pancakes; they're in a recipe for an adventure in trusting God! In a recent Quiet Time, I was doing a study on the financial principles and promises that we find in the Bible, and I came across the stories of two different widows: one in 1 Kings chapter 17 and the other in 2 Kings chapter 4.

In the story of the first widow, in 1 Kings 17, this lady was facing some real needs, but I saw that she stepped out with the little that she already had (some flour and oil) even though it wasn’t nearly enough... and God caused that supply to keep flowing. When the prophet Elijah asked the widow for something to eat, she didn’t say, “Sorry, I can’t help you. I don’t have enough to live on myself.” She just stepped out with that little bit of flour and oil that she already had, and God did a miracle: her flour and oil simply never ran out, but continued flowing and were always enough.

In a sense, this was what God often did for us during the years I lived in South Africa. If you had looked at our bank statements, and seen on paper what our monthly income was, you’d never have believed it was possible for people to live on that amount and to pay the rent and electricity, run a car, buy food, etc… but the supply kept flowing, and somehow it was always enough.

I realised I’d been feeling lately as if my life was “on hold” - knowing that I couldn’t step out to rent a flat in Spain if I didn’t have even a reasonable percentage of the money needed to pay for it and furnish it. (I’ve lived my whole life with the principle of never getting into debt.) But I also knew that I couldn’t wait indefinitely and so, when I read this widow’s story, I felt challenged to “step out” with the resources that I already have - even if my “flour and oil” isn’t nearly enough yet - and to trust that God will keep the flow coming. It doesn’t sound a particularly responsible thing to do, but - as I’ve discovered over the past decades - steps of faith often don’t look the slightest bit responsible on the surface.

And so I’ve stepped out now and booked my plane ticket to Malaga: I will be moving down to Spain on Sunday 5th October. I don't yet know where I will live, or how I will pay for it, but I know that God's saying it's time now to take a new step of faith.

What about you? Are you facing any situations at the moment that just seem "too big" for you? At times when our "flour and oil" seem totally inadequate for the task ahead, that's when we need to remember that God is always bigger than any challenge we might face, and sometimes He asks us just to step out in simple trust and faith.

Endings and beginnings...

Just a few days ago, I attended the funeral of a friend who died of cancer last week. Although funerals are always a time of sadness, the service was also a celebration of this lady's life and of her faith in God. Such times always make me think about my own "legacy:" what would I like to be remembered for when my own time comes?

In a sense, a funeral is like an ending: it brings an end to someone's life on earth. This week in my quiet time, I was reading the story of a new beginning: in Nehemiah chapter 7 verses 1 -2, we read about the new season that began when the people of Israel had finished rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. "New doors" (gates) were put in place, and different kinds of people were appointed to guard the city (gatekeepers) and to keep its focus on the Lord (singers and Levites.) A man called Hananiah was appointed - because he was a person of integrity and "he feared God more than most men do." (vs 2, NIV)

In just a few weeks' time, "new doors" will be opening for me and I will be moving to live in Spain. I have no idea how long I will live there, but as I look into the future, I know that this is the legacy that I pray for. Just like Hananiah, I want to be remembered as someone who loved and honoured God "more than most people do." This is the deepest desire of my heart.