“What do you do when you don’t know what to do?”
Sermon : LITTLE IS MUCH WHEN GOD IS IN IT
Scripture Text: 2 Kings 4:1-7
Sermon Notes:
2 KINGS 4:1-7 NIV
1 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.”
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few.
4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
5 She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring.
6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
What do you do when you don’t know what to do?
HEBREWS 11:6 NIV
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
CRY. ERASE. GIVE.
I. CRY OUT TO GOD
2 KINGS 4:1 NIV
1 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
“To cry out to Elisha was not a substitute for crying out to God. Rather, because Elisha was clearly called by God to serve as His divinely-appointed spokesman to the people of Israel, crying out to him was a vital part of crying out to God Himself.” –Greg Allen
EPHESIANS 2:18-20 NIV
18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household,
20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
“When you don’t know what to do, cry out to God.”
PSALMS 34:4 NIV
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
“Our needs are never unknown to our sovereign Lord.”
II. ERASE FAITH IN YOURSELF.
2 KINGS 4:2 NIV
2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.”
“Often God will use the trials, heartaches and frustrations to bring us to the place where we can honestly see our need and our own inability to meet those needs.”
“…when we stop and honestly answer [this question] … we will realize that we need more than we will ever be able to supply by ourselves. God does this to erase our faith. He isn’t trying to erase our faith in Him; He is trying to erase our faith in ourselves. As long as we think we can, He won’t!” — Allan Carr
ROMANS 12:3 NIV
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
ROMANS 12:3b MESSAGE
3 “…The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.”
“When you don’t know what to do, erase your faith in yourself.”
III. GIVE GOD OUR EXCEPTIONS.
2 KINGS 4:2 NIV
2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.”
2 KINGS 4:3-7 NIV
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few.
4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
5 She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring.
6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
“Oftentimes, we do not realize that what we have (even if it’s little) is more than enough for God. “
“We dream about where we wish we were and what we wish we had but in the end, we do not invest in where we are and use what we have.”
“It’s not until we embrace our limitations that God can start to use us beyond our limitations.”
2 KINGS 4:3 NIV
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few.
What has God put in your hands?
“Little is much when God is in it.”
Does the place you’re called to labor
Seem too small and little known?
It is great if God is in it,
And He’ll not forget His own.
“When you don’t know what to do, give God your exceptions.”
CRY. ERASE. GIVE.
2 KINGS 4:3 NIV
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:7 NIV
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
“Little is much when God is in it.”