Elisha

Key Bible passage: 2 Kings 4:1-7

Pastor Dwight’s moose story is quite impressive. Scary situation, though. The widow’s story is also impressive – and scary. No food. Big debts. Kids are in danger of being sold as slaves. And the husband, the provider, and protector, dead. A hardship many of us might not experience in our lifetime.

But we have other hardships. Maybe it’s also debt. Maybe the loss of a loved one. Maybe it’s the hopelessness or despair of what the future holds.

Take a moment. Take a piece of paper and write this title at the top: “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.” Now, write down the hardship(s) you are facing underneath. The struggles you are confronting. The pain you are experiencing. – This is real. We all have hardships in one way or another.

Interestingly, Elisha asks the widow just one simple question: What DO you have?

Under your list of hardships, draw a box large enough for a few sentences. Within the box write, down the things that you can bring to the table.

• • What have you learned over the years that can be useful in this situation?
  • What friends or connections do you have where you can find practical help or advice?
  • What material things in your house can contribute to solving the problem?

Write these things in the box. While you do that, remember the sentence from the sermon:

“Don’t focus on the things that you don’t have. Focus on what you DO have.” (Pastor Dwight)

The key to the next steps is that you use what you have and trust that God can provide more than enough. Let me paraphrase Psalm 23:4 “In my hardships, my cup overflows with God’s blessings.”

Use what you have. Pour into that relationship, the one that is tough right now. Invest your time to figure out the next move. Get financial advice from an expert – there might even be one in your church. Use that last bit of strength to make changes in your life. All along, trusting that God will multiply your efforts just as he did with the widow and her sons.

“Work with what you have and trust God to do the multiplying.”

Here is one more important step: In the next couple of weeks, keep this sheet of paper visible. On your refrigerator. On your desk. In your car. And whenever God provides something specifically towards that area of hardship, write down the blessing you received. Don’t stop writing things down until you have no room left on the sheet. Let the blessings fill the page.