The Widow Whose Business Rises Again After Fallen Apart


The Widow Whose Business Rises Again After Fallen Apart
Introduction
One of the commonest works during the ancient times was business. The kind of business then was trade by barter. Trade by barter is not common among individuals today unlike then, because it limits trade. However, this kind of trade is common amongst countries today and that is why America would exchange her technology for some precious metals like diamonds.

Google defines trade by barter “as an act of trading goods and services between two or more people without the use of money. This act of trade is sometimes referred to as barter system. Barter system is a form of trading in which goods are exchanged directly for other goods, or used as a medium of exchange, without the use of money.”
And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire.
And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.(1 Ki 5:1, 10-11)
We shall see in the above quoted bible chapter and verses that the form of trade here is trade by barter, in which expertise, cedar trees among others are being changed for other materials.
However, business nowadays has to do with exchange of money for that thing which one wants to acquire.
Having said this, a person who is a widow is said to be someone who has lost his husband to the cold hands of death and who has decided not to remarry. This person may be a young woman or old woman. An example of a woman who decides not to remarry after her husband’s death in the new testament was Anna. The bible says she lived with her husband for seven years before her husband’s death.
And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. (Luk 2:36-37)
However, it is not all women who can do this, and those who cannot do that should not be looked down upon as if they do not love their husbands, but we should know that individuals differ. God fives room for our differences, and a good believer of the Gospel should always give room for individual’s differences.
What you will condone, I may not be able to condone it, what I can do, you may not be able to do it, that is why we are different that is the beauty of life and living.
Losing what one loves is usually not easy except you do not love the thing in the first instance, but if the thing is loved, it will pain you greatly when you lose it. In the same wise should we view losing one’s partner, spouse. It is usually not easy for the partner who has lost a partner. In fact those who have been enduring the marriage, when the person losses his or her partner, the person would still remember one day what the person used to do that he was perfect in and would say to no one in particular that assuming my spouse is alike now, he would have done this or that. That is how it is.
Therefore, when one loses a person that one loves, it is usually a time of trial for the person, for he will have to adjust to the situation.
As losing a partner pains a lot so did it happen unto God when he lost man to the pranks of the devil in the garden of Eden, it pained God greatly and he started adjusting himself to the situation of not having free access to us like before again by bringing many schemes on board to bring man back to fellowship with him. It is through this adjustments and readjustments that resulted in him sending Jesus to the world to die for our sins, and the onus is now on us all to accept God’s freewill offering by given our lives to him. Have you given your life to Jesus Christ? If you are yet to, God wants you to give your life to him through his son today.
The collections of the bible are wonderful, and it is one of the wonderful collections of the bible as found in the Old Testament portion of the bible that I want us to learn from in this submission.
After Prophet Elijah has been carted away by the chariots of fire, the man Elisha who saw him being taken off stepped into his shoes and began to operate on a full scale in his office in the late ninth century BC.
A woman who happens to be one of the wives of the prophets ran to the prophet when she could neither curtail nor control the problem she has been battling with alone and the prophet attended to her. The concise story of what happened is documented in the book of second Kings chapter four, the first seven verses. It is from this place that I want to draw out the following points.

1. The Woman and Her Spouse Were Devoted: According to the Mosaic Law that says Levites shouldn’t marry a whore, it stands to reason that the husband of this woman did not marry a whore but a decent and a chaste lady.
They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.
A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife. (Lev 21:7 & 14)
Though the worship of the true God was threatened during their days, but these people would be one of those whom God vouched for that they were keeping his precepts when he was talking with Prophet Elijah that he still has 7,000 people who have neither bowed to Baal nor kissed it.
Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. (1 Ki 19:18)
This perhaps could suggest why they faced troubles, financial crises that eventually led the woman to go to the prophet after the demise of her love in this book.
Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. (2 Ki 4:1)
From the statement of the woman here we shall see that she said her husband feared the Lord. The fear of God in the heart of her husband before his demise was not a hidden one, it was equally known to all and especially the prophet. Assuming this is not so, the Prophet would have called her to order, that her husband did not fear the Lord, for we know that the Prophet called to order King Jehu when they came to him for assistance on the battle they wanted to confront. Now, if he could confront the Kings like that, the authority that rules kingdoms then, who is this woman that he will not tell her that her husband was not devoted, her husband did not fear the Lord and the same applies to her.
And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, what have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.
And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee. (2 Ki 3:13-14)
The prophet was silent on what the woman said because he knows that what the woman was saying was correct.
After the woman and her husband have been joined together, they have been living harmoniously following the rules of the Jews into letters And the Mosaic Laws.

2. Terrible Things Happen to Believers (Devotees) too: From what this woman said we shall discover that evil things also happen to those who believe in God and who are following his rules. They are not immune to it, because they are still in the world and in flesh as all humans are.
The wisest King says that, evil happens to the just (or righteous) person as if the person is a wicked person.
All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness. (Ecc 7:15)
There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity. (Ecc. 8:14)
When a believer, ardent follower of the Lord borrows to feed, borrows before executing good things with no respite in site, with no wherewithal to repay the loans taken. When a believer after doing all his or her best and everything turns negative or to nothing, the author of this book of Ecclesiastes is saying it is evil.
This is what this woman brought unto Prophet Elisha that despite following God, despite not being lazy, despite given all their best into the service of God, what they do not think would happen to them eventually happened and they couldn’t contain the event.
Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. (2 Ki 4:1)
What are those things that have overwhelmed you despite being ardent follower of Jesus? Despite doing all you know the scriptures have proffered to be right, yet those things happen to you. I want you to know that you are like this spouse, this family of God and you shouldn’t for that go and kiss Baal neither worship him, you should not for that go and have fellowship with Mammon, for there shouldn’t be any relationship those of us who are light and darkness and neither can we have two masters.
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Mat 6:24)
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? (2 Co 6:14)
If you are passing through hard times, that make you doubt your salvation and at times question why you are being given birth to, you need to exercise patience and know that God is there he sees all things.
The couple were borrowing here and there to keep themselves going, they were borrowing to keep the wife’s business afloat since the husband was a prophet and would likely not be working again.

3. Loan Repayment Becomes Difficult: I perceived that the couple before the death of the husband couldn’t pay the interest on the loans they took, and the interest keeps accumulating. It was when they couldn’t pay the accumulated interests on the original loans that the loans keep accumulating until it became huge debt on them.
4. They Couldn’t Save: When people talk about saving before you spend I cannot but say to myself that it is a person who has no debt on him that could save. But for someone who has debts that she or he is servicing, she can barely save. This couple couldn’t save a dime because they were servicing loans.

5. They Have Sold all to Service Their Debt: It is unarguably logical to assume that for a couple who fears the Lord and who does not want to owe anyone a dime as the bible says, they would do everything within their power to ensure that they are freed from the burden of debt. Doing everything within their means would include selling everything they had to offset the debts, but even at that they were unable to pay off their debts.
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. (Rom 13:8)
It was after they have sold all to service the debt that they were left with only one bottle of oil at home.
And Elisha said unto her, what shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. (2 Ki 4:2)
It was because all valuable things in the house have been sold to service their debt profile that was why the woman said, thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house”. She may be thinking that, the prophet may want to tell her to go and sell some things to settle the debt, she may be thinking that the prophet would tell ask her that does she has difficulties in selling some of their possessions to settle the debt? For that is what is common when we are indebted to someone and we go to people for counselling they would ask that do you find it difficult to sell those things to pay your debt? If the answer is, I have difficulties in selling what I have to offset the debt the person would say he would help you market the goods so that you will be able to convert the goods to money and pay your debt to time.
This was however not the case with this widow, for they have sole all they had at ridiculously low prices to offset part of the debt and service the interests on the debt, but despite all of these, the debt profile keeps rising.

6. Why She Has Pot of Oil Left: Anyone who has at a time or another passed through financial challenges would recall that when you want to offer some of your properties for sales, immediately the people see that you have challenges financially and you need the money urgently, they would be pricing those goods anyhow, they would be pricing it at ridiculously low prices, which I do not think it is good.
Some people usually assume that it is because those people who wanted to sell those goods have gotten it illegally that is why they are offering it for sales and they would be saying, their illegally gotten wealth, God has retrieved it back for them.
I am persuaded that it is not everyone who got their goods and wealth illegally, but as the wisest King said in his accounts that “time and chance happen to them all”, that is what happen to couple of those people who are forced to offer their properties for sales to raise money for what they want to do next or to offset their debts.
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. (Ecc 9:11)
This woman having tried all her best and couldn’t raise the money started selling her things however, when it got to the last pot of oil, people wanted to exploit her, they started pricing the pot of oil at a ridiculously low price, at a price that would not serve anything for her, and the woman felt, even if she would give it out to someone it would be better than offering it out at a price that would not make sense, getting money that she would not be able to use for anything, thus, she preserved it at home, obviously thinking she would use it for something if she couldn’t give it out, maybe to anoint herself as a wife of the prophet who indubitably would have learnt how to anoint from her husband before her demise. She thence left the pot at home, waiting for the day it would be used.
And Elisha said unto her, what shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. (2 Ki 4:2)
She had it at home because she couldn’t sell it anyhow, she didn’t want to sell it at a ridiculously low price and would be blaming herself afterwards.

7. Her Sureties Have Done Their Best: This woman’s sureties have done their best in ensuring that the loans she took be repaid, but everything was on promise and fail. “I will pay tomorrow, I will pay next month”, was all she kept saying and since she has not died, the sureties perhaps have to tell the creditor to take more drastic and decisive measures against the woman because they also had their lives to live and that was when the creditor changed his disposition to collecting the loan back from the woman, she told her that she has not been serious with the issue of the repayment of the loan and that he would go with her children, to be serving him and they would be repaying the debt with their services under him and or if she has money before they fully repaid the loans with their services under him, she can come for his children.
Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.
If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee? (Pro 22:26-27)
When this happened, the woman knows that the issue has taken a new dimension.
8. Knows When and How to Involve God: Having tried her best but failed thereby and now that the creditor has come to disturb her, not only to disturb her for they had been doing that well before then, and her sureties have handed off the issue, she decided to turn to someone who cannot hand her off, someone who will always be there for her.
Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. (2 Ki 4:1)
God will always be there for us if we can put our trust in him, God will always be there for us if we can involve him in all we are doing. You have been trusting him before but without changes like the woman, he calls on you to come and lean on him again.
Poll God’s Involvement: Have you been involving God in your activities before? Yes No
If you have been involving God in your activities before but it seems as if he has not been there for you as it happened unto this widow even before her husband’s demise for to them it seems as if God does not see them, it seems as if they have been forsaken and neglected by God, thus, they keep on trying, keep on doing some things to make sure their situation and lives changes but all they were doing turned to nothing.
However, when she discovered that the trend has changed, she went back to that God through the Prophet to ask for his mercy to ask that she and her children should neither be forsaken nor forgotten, and God did arise on her plight.
He will also arise on your plight if you can forsake the experience and go to him afresh today.

9. What she has been Accustomed to Was Used to Save Her: God hardly takes a person through a new path without going through the known path. He will go from known to the unknown when dealing with people. Be it known that when God wants to change your life, he will start from what you know how to do before moving to other things that you have little knowledge about in the past and would then teach you how to go about the new thing.
Teaching you how to go about the new thing could come through someone, instruments, observation, inner directives through social media among others.
After this woman narrated her ordeal to the Prophet, the prophet asked her what she has at home and having confirmed what she had at home, the prophet told her that it is what she knows how to do that she will do again. And what is it that she knows how to do, she knows how to borrow.
What she would borrow now would not be money, but she would borrow insignificant thing, what people would readily part with without asking for money from her.
Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. (2 Ki 4:3)
If we can take our plights to him, he will turn the insignificant things in our hands and lives to big and mighty things that will surprise the enemies.

10. The Instructions Were Well Emphasized: The Prophet after telling her what she needs to go and borrow, emphasized the clause attached for the borrowing because assuming the clause was not well emphasized. Let us see the instructions:
(a) Borrow Many Empty Vessels: It is certain that assuming the clause attached to this instruction was not well spelt out for the woman she wouldn’t borrow considerable numbers of empty vessels.
Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. (2 Ki 4:3)
When the Lord is giving us instructions, he will emphasize the key areas to focus on, on the instructions so that we shall not come around and say what he said did not work for us.
Prophet Elisha told her what she should do, she shouldn’t miss it, he told her that it is now time for her to recoup all she has lost, it is now time for her to be compensated and rewarded, it is now time that God would wipe away her tears, anguish and pain, it is now time that God would remove her shame from the face of the world.
Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. (Isa 54:4)
He thence told her that she shouldn’t borrow few empty vessels, but she should borrow many of it, she should borrow as many as she could. She has known how to borrow before, and God uses what she knows how to do to remove her shame from the face of the world.
You who are passing through troubles, pains, trials and financial difficulties, you shall remember them no more when you acquaint yourself with the Lord.
(b) Take Those Borrowed Vessels Home: She was told that she needs to take the borrowed vessels to her house. Thank God she still has a house that she can resort to. Many people are out there ravaged and without homes, but this was not the case for the woman. Thus, Prophet Elisha told her to take those empty vessels which she might have borrowed to her house and then she will move to the next phase of her action.
And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. (2 Ki 4:4)
We need to patiently wait for the instructions of the Lord if we really want to be his follower.
(c) Shut the Doors: Prophet Elisha told her to shut the doors behind her and her children after she had gotten as many empty vessels as possible which she can borrow from people. God by this statement through his conduit, Prophet Elisha wishes to teach them an important lesson, which by extension he is teaching all of us too.
It is because when those things happen and the smooth paths become roughened, we shall pause our moves, reflect on the pasts and other things and we shall be able to see and to learn what he wants us to learn which we have been avoiding all this while.
Poll 2: Roughened Paths: Is your paths roughened in life? Yes No Unsure
If your paths in life has been roughened and you are a believer in Jesus Christ, it may be that the Lord is teaching you something and thus you need to be patient with him to learn and see those things he wants you to see and learn what he wants you to learn. Thine roughened paths may not be caused by sin, neither enemies, but it may essentially be from God to let you see some things that would be of immense benefit to you in the future.
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (1 Pe 1:7)
- Why She was told to Shut the doors Behind Her and Her Sons? Here are some of the reasons why I think God said through his oracle, Prophet Elisha that they should shut the doors behind them when they wanted to be pouring the oil into the new empty vessels borrowed.
(i) Make it Complete Secret Between Them and Yahweh: They need to shut the doors behind them so that what they are doing would be between them and their God and his God alone. For when it becomes public it may not be so appreciated by people again.
(ii) To Avoid Disturbances: If the doors were opened, their friends and or neighbors may at that time wanted to come and visit them and would cause disturbance, cessation, to the flow of the anointing that is working in bringing about the multiplication.
Jesus himself would talk along this line when he was talking to the apostles and all of us on the need for prayers, he said when we want to pray we shouldn’t be like the hypocrites who stand at the corners of the house and start shouting, but when we are praying we should enter into our closet to talk with our father in heaven secretly and he will hear us.
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Mat 6:5-6)
I remember sometimes back that when I wanted to pray, it is then that I will have visitors, and they would talk at length and wouldn’t leave early until all the time I set aside for prayers be exceeded and the fire for prayer in me be reduced. After they have departed, and I wanted to pray I wouldn’t be able to pray much again.
I saw this as a means for which the devil is cheating me, and thence, whenever I wanted to pray, I started shutting my doors behind me. When visitors arrived and knocked, I wouldn’t open until I have spent the hours, I want to spend with God in prayers with him.
By the time I finished my prayers, the visitors would have gone. Shutting the doors behind them is a means of avoiding distractions and obstructions from people.
(iii) God’s Exclusive Rights: They were told to shut the door behind them so that what they are doing would be exclusively reserved between them and their God. When one has exclusive right to something, no other person can go there anyhow without being sued or punished. They by shutting their doors gave God exclusivity to what they were doing.
(iv) To Show Them That It’s Power of God That Will do it: An author says, he said this because he wants them to know that they were going to be dealing with Yahweh as from thenceforth. He wants them to know that it is God who will do it not him, the prophet.
(v) To Show Them That Yahweh is Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscience: They need to shut the door behind them because it is not him, Prophet Elisha, who will be at work, but Yahweh who will be at work. The God who works where no one is, the God who makes a way through the sea and river Jordan is the one they would be dealing with. The God who is everywhere at once, sees everywhere at once and knows everything would be the one they shall be interacting with.
(vi) Wants Them to Praise God Afterwards: The Prophet told them this because he wants them to know that he was simply a conduit for getting across God’s message and will to them and he wouldn’t have any input in it, thus she neither her sons should come and be praising him after the miracle has been wrought but they should direct all their praises to Yahweh alone.
(vii) He Wants Them to Enjoy God: Since they would be dealing directly with God if they follow his instructions, by closing the doors behind them, thus removing all forms of interference between them and God he opens the door for them to be enjoying their God. Thus, if they decide to do it in the appropriate way, they would enjoy that God, but if they do the work shoddily, they wouldn’t.
(viii) So That the Miracle Would be Valuable: There is an adage in my land that says, valuable things are at first hidden from the spectacles of the spectators. When you hide something from the majority, they would value it more when they see it, but when they have seen it at the inception, they would not attach much importance to it when the product is eventually finished and brought out for them to see.
God may by this be teaching them of the need to ensure that they learn how to keep some things to themselves until those things become finished products. This is also true of us, we need to learn how to keep some things to ourselves until it is finished, by doing this, the thing would have more importance in the sight of the people.

(d) Pour into new ones: He told them that they should start pouring the oil into the empty vessels after the doors have been shut behind them.
New vessels are required because new thing is to be done and Jesus says no one can pour new wine into old wineskin.
Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. (Mat 9:17)
It is when our lives are free of impurities that the oil of God would be poured into our lives. We cry for new oil every day, but we are yet to receive it because our lives yet have impurities in them.
(e) Setting Aside Those Filled: After a previously empty vessel has been filled, it should be set aside, he told them. It is important you set aside filled vessels from empty ones lest there be confusions. God equally sets aside those who are his from those who are not his to place us at vantage position for his blessings at the right time.
Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. (Mal 3:18)
11. She did What she was Told: It is possible that one hears a word and not do it, but this was not the case for this widow, she heard what the prophet said, and she carried it out.
You perhaps may have been hearing and reading the messages of Christ Jesus for a while, you have been reading the bible for a while, but you are yet to carry out what you have read, you are yet to be the doer of the word. Be it known unto you that neither the hearer nor the speaker would be justified but the doer of the word of God.
You have to take actions on the word of Jesus that you have been hearing, you have to take action on the good messages you have been reading and downloading on many social media because it is by taking actions and doing them that you would become justified, it is by doing them that your life and business would become transformed.
Some people have heard about the Gospel before some of us, and they have been asking that who have you known that his life has got transformed through this means? And because they couldn’t receive satisfactory answers, they couldn’t follow Jesus.
They have read it, some have heard of it, but they were seeking for someone whom they know to tell them more about the Gospel before they start, and some even after seeing someone to tell them what they wanted to hear, they will yet not do the needful.
Such people wouldn’t be justified neither receive anything if they continue in their position of pessimism.
It is the same with some of the systems of the world, if you continue to linger in the position of your doubts, asking questions that who have you seen that has done this and things changed for him or her, then you won’t make appreciable progress in anything you are doing.
If you continue in that position, it is sure that you will not give your life to Jesus Christ. It is someone who starts that would be rewarded, it is the doer of the word of God who shall be rewarded.
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed (Jas 1:25)
This widow did not linger in her position, she did not keep on questioning the prophet, but she acted what she was told out and it worked for her. When you put the word of God to action in your life, I want to tell you that it will work for you.

12. New Business Perhaps Introduced Through Her: I foresee that after this woman after doing what she was told by the prophet and her life becomes transformed and his business receives a fillip, the people who borrowed her the empty vessels would from then not be borrowing their empty vessels out without money attached.
No one wants good thing for anyone in the world, and when the people see that your life has changed they will want to trace how the change comes about, and on noticing that it is through the insignificant thing that your life becomes changed, they would want to block the way, thence they would device other means of blocking the way.
This perhaps may have been the reason behind rentage services in the world today. The people saw that it was their empty vessels which she borrowed that brought about a total turn around for her and her business and thence, they said to themselves, we shall not be lending our properties out for free again, it needs to be monetized.

13. She Involved Her Children: This woman gets her children involved in the process of pouring the oil into new vessels. I foresee that she would equally have gotten them involved in the borrowing of empty vessels too. Doing this it means all along she has involved her children in all she was doing.
Poll 3: Children Involvement: Do you involve your wards in your business? Yes No
Some people do not involve their children in their businesses, and it is not fair enough. Business is neither a University certificate nor an award solely meant for the person that cannot be shared by wives, children or husbands. If we can get our children and people involved in our businesses, and when we do this, we shall be relieved after they have known the rudiments of the job.
It is true that some children may not want to toe the paths of their parents in what they are doing, but that does not stop us from introducing them to it, so that they will decide on what to do about it after a while.
So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.
And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, there is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. (2 Ki 4:5-6)
The prophet asks her to introduce (or involve) her children in her business and that was what she done.
14. Situation Report: She continued to pour oil into empty vessels, and she discovered miracle happening, she started enjoying God as the Prophet has said. However, after a while all the vessels got filled to the brim and when she asks her son to bring empty vessels again, they told her that there were no vessels left as all have been filled.
And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, there is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. (2 Ki 4:6)
On hearing this, they praised the Lord and went to the Prophet to give him the situation report. It is good to give people who send us message situation report, so that they would know whether we have done what they ask us to do or not.

15. Re-ignite Your Business: When she got to the prophet and told him what happened, the prophet told her what was in the mind of God for her, for incorporating her into the business that she has just finished. These, the Prophet said were in the mind of God for her.
And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, there is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.
Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest. (2 Ki 4:6-7)
(a) Auction Out the Oil: She was told that she needs to go and sell the oil in those vessels. Business has been her occupation before, thus, God told her to go back into her business and ensure that she sells those oil perhaps at a lower price to draw more customers to her side and so that she would be able to pay her debt to time.
When a business person lowers the price, what is called “Black Day” in the advanced climes, it draws customers to the business, because hardly would anyone see where something is being sold at a cheaper rate and want to go and buy at a place where the price is on the high side. The economists and business persons call it business strategy. She was led into a business strategy by God so that she would not be in a position again.
(b) Pay Your Debt: The first assignment after selling those oil was paying her debt so that she would not be disturbed by her creditor again. God knows the priorities in our lives, and he will help us in fulfilling those priorities if we can hand over the situations of things to him.
Poll 4: Hand Over: Have you hand over the situation of your life to God? Yes No
When we make what should be prioritized second in our lives there would be problems if not immediately it would happen later.
(c) Starting Afresh: After she has paid up her debts, she was told what to do by the prophet. Things would not be spelt out in A, B, C fashion for people. The prophet told her that she and her children should live…(on) the rest. (2 Ki 4:6-7). By saying this, Prophet Elisha knows that irrespective how lower the price of the oil was she would still have excess capital with her to start her business afresh with. Therefore, she told her that she should live on the rest with her children.
God herein is saying that he does not expect her neither her children to go a begging again, he does not expect her to lack again because what has been done for her is more than enough to establish a big oil company in their country.
God would establish you if you can give him your entirety. He is yet to get you established because you are yet to give him your all. Please give him your all today and see him at work in a new dimension in your life.
Since she hasn’t been lazy, it is obvious that she wouldn’t sleep in doors and start thinking the money would keep growing because when one keeps taken something from a container sooner than expected the thing would finish, but when one keeps replacing what one has taken from the container it would never run out. This essentially is the reason why we must keep growing in the word of God as well as keep growing in our daily endeavors, for when we rest on our oars we would run out of fuel and fire and would be a person of yesteryears.

Conclusion, do you wish to start new thing or has your business fallen apart like this woman’s? Are you having difficulties repaying your loans despite given your business all it takes? Then you need to do like this widow did, introduce God into the scheme of your business and if you have introduced him into your business before, re-involve him there, re-dedicate everything to him and you shall see uncommon changes in your business. Always know that it is not too late to start afresh with God.

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