One size fits all? Not with God!

I love 2 Kings chapter 4. At various times in the past, God has spoken personally to me from the lives of these two women. Reading it again this week, it struck me how very different these women were. One is poor and the other is wealthy. One is a widow and the other still has a husband. One is blessed with two sons and the other has no children at all. But no matter how different their life circumstances were, God met each of these women at the point of her greatest need or dream.

For the poor widow, the needs were as basic as it gets: it was about survival in a time of famine. She and her two sons needed food and finance. We've all heard the story of how God provided for that need. The prophet Elisha told the woman to go and collect all kinds of empty containers from her friends and neighbours. Then she began pouring from her small pitcher of left over oil, and the oil didn't run out until every container was filled. 

The amount of provision didn't depend on how much God was willing to give; it depended on how many containers the woman had taken the time to collect. If she had collected ten containers,  God would have filled them; if she spent a bit more time calling on neighbours and collected fifty containers, God was just as willing to fill every single one of them. This woman was in great need, and God was completely able to meet that need, but He still asked her to do her part; she needed to be willing to have faith for lots of containers to be filled.  The oil she poured that day not only fed herself and her sons; she was also able to sell it and to pay off all her debts.

It's exactly the same with our spiritual lives; the extent to which we experience God doesn't depend on how much He wants to reveal Himself; it depends on how much time and dedication we're willing to put in to be a receptive "container." Why do some people see more answered prayers than others? Probably because they pray more. Why do some people find that their times in the Bible are more meaningful than other people do? Probably because they read more.

You may feel "poor" in spiritual things, but be like this widow and begin with what you have. Use this coronavirus lockdown time to spend time in God's presence, to meditate on His Word, to pray for people you know and for those around the world that you don't know. God will be faithful to fill any "containers" that we bring to Him.

The second woman's situation was completely different; the Bible tells us that she was wealthy, and was able to use her wealth to offer regular and generous hospitality to the prophet Elisha. So when he asks her, "What can I do for you?" she replies that she is well taken care of and has everything she needs. But this woman had welcomed the prophetic presence of God into her life and her home, and God goes the extra mile to grant a secret unspoken desire of her heart: she is childless and her husband is old, but God nonetheless promises her that she will have a son.

That is so like the God that we know and serve. He has promised to meet all of our needs, and He is constantly, faithfully doing that throughout our lives. But His love for us is so extravagant that He also longs to go a step further and grant us the most secret dreams of our hearts.  

There's a well known scripture in Psalm 37 that says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." The more we allow God to shape and transform our lives, the more likely it is that our deepest desires will be things that bring joy to His heart. I remember when I was working with youth ministry training courses in South Africa, I asked the students to do a piece of homework that involved choosing a Bible word or theme and looking up the Hebrew and Greek words that are used whenever it is mentioned in the Bible. One student chose the word, "delight," and so her study included this verse from Psalm 37. What a surprise she got to discover that the Hebrew word used in this verse is ânag, which means to be soft and pliable. That wasn't at all what she had expected. She had imagined that "delighting in the Lord" would be something to do with enjoying or taking pleasure in Him. That's important too, but what a revelation it was to her to realise that truly delighting in God means that we will be tender and pliable in His hands, open to hear His voice and do His will. With that kind of spirit, it's so easy for the desires of our heart to be fulfilled.

So which of these two woman is most like you today? Do you have a need that He can meet for you today? Or do you feel that you have everything you need, but perhaps you have a secret dream or desire that you've never even dared to speak out? There's no "one size fits all" with God. He is so personal and He meets each one of us where we are at. Bring Him your need or your heart's desire and lay that before Him today. He longs to spend time with you.