Elisha - Pt 6

Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.” (2 Kings 4:1-7 ESV). This story is a roller-coaster ride of emotions, beginning in the depths of human tragedy. A father dies before his time, leaving a widow and two young children helpless and vulnerable, and ending with the soaring declaration: you and your sons can live (v. 7). However, before this incredible declaration is spoken there is a long period of profound difficulty. After all, this is a story about death and life. It is also a story about power; which has more power, life or death? Death is presented as an insatiable force, literally eating the woman out of house and home, leaving her cupboards, her table, her bank account, her bedroom, and even her future empty. It seems to most people that death isn’t satisfied until it has taken everything a person has. Death took from this woman the resources required for her to live, and now through the debt collector it also threatened to rob her of her last remaining joy and the source of her hope, her children. But in this story, as in so many other stories in the Bible, death does not get the last word. In fact, almost the last word in the story is “live.” Through the ministry of Elisha, God has transformed the woman’s fortunes from death to life. We are compelled to ask with the apostle Paul, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:55). This story testifies that with God life is more powerful than death. Elisha learns an incredible truth through this mighty miracle. Life wins! I have often wondered as I have ministered to grief stricken families if there wasn’t some way to ease the burden and pain of their minds. It seems though we know the end is one of victory, the pain overwhelms our sensibility and our emotions drive us to feel the pain of death. While I know that both experientially and intellectually, I also know that is not what Jesus died to give us. Don’t misunderstand. I am not saying that grief is somehow wrong; what I am saying is that feeling is not the end of the story. God has written a story of victory over death forever and sealed it in the resurrection of His Son. Be comforted in that undeniable, unshakeable truth! Life wins!