Except a Little Oil
“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 small jar of olive oil.'”
— 2 Kings 4:2 (NIV)
A widow was about to lose her two sons to a creditor, which was legal at the time. Elisha did not begin with a miracle. He asked an inventory question: what is in the house? Her answer was nothing, and then she corrected herself. Except a little oil. The whole rescue started with that one correction.
When did you last take an honest inventory instead of deciding you have nothing? Her first answer was nothing, then she corrected herself halfway through the sentence. That correction saved her. Look again before you say you have nothing.
Take the Inventory
- 1Walk through your home or your week and name three things you actually have. Say them out loud.
- 2Ask one person: 'What is one good thing in your life right now?' Then tell them yours.
God, my first answer was that I have nothing. Show me what I missed.
Before I say I have nothing, I will look again.
Why were her sons at risk?
Under the debt customs of the time, a creditor could take children as slaves to settle what a household owed.
Why did Elisha ask what she had?
He started the rescue from her actual inventory rather than from nothing. What she already owned became the raw material.
Does this promise financial rescue?
It records one without turning it into a rule. The transferable part is the question: look honestly at what is already in the house.