S: 2 Kings 4:3-4 “Go out,” he said, “borrow vessels from all your neighbors- as many empty vessels as you can. Then come back and close the door on yourself and your children; pour the oil into all the vessels, and as each is filled, set it aside.”
O: The woman was very poor and wanted help to save her children. Elisha told her she needed to ask her neighbors for help, by asking to borrow jugs from them.
A: I don’t know if she actually explained to her neighbors why she needed the jugs. I don’t know if she really knew the oil wouldn’t stop until she ran out of jugs. But she still had to go to her neighbors for help. One of the hardest things for people is to ask others for help. It lets it be known that they aren’t perfect. At least that’s how I see it for myself. Asking someone to help me with something shows that I am not strong. That’s the lies I have believed for so many years. The lies that have run me ragged more than once.
But there are friends out there who don’t care if I am strong or not. They are willing to let me come undone in front of them and won’t bat an eye. They are willing and able to take on my burdens with their own and pray with me to God for help. I need to not fear allowing others to help me through God. And there are friends out there who are trying just as hard to be strong. And who need a neighbor to help them out. And they don’t want to ask.
I was thinking of this yesterday in the car after picking up some hand-me-downs for my son from a stranger (we have this neighborhood app that allows us to gift things we no longer need). Just because my tapestry of life isn’t as unraveled as yours doesn’t mean I’m not tangled in the threads. We all have things going on in our lives that we need to push through. We mustn’t judge someone’s outer appearance or lifestyles and think they couldn’t possibly be suffering like we are. Appearances are just the way someone looks or an act they perform. Love your neighbor. It’s what Jesus has told us to do. They may need that extra love and you don’t even know it.
K: Lord I pray that you open my eyes to those around me, so I can see the need hidden in their hearts. Let me be your servant. Help me to love my neighbor as you have loved me. Help me not to fear when I need extra love myself.
I was thinking of this yesterday in the car after picking up some hand-me-downs for my son from a stranger (we have this neighborhood app that allows us to gift things we no longer need). Just because my tapestry of life isn’t as unraveled as yours doesn’t mean I’m not tangled in the threads. We all have things going on in our lives that we need to push through. We mustn’t judge someone’s outer appearance or lifestyles and think they couldn’t possibly be suffering like we are. Appearances are just the way someone looks or an act they perform. Love your neighbor. It’s what Jesus has told us to do. They may need that extra love and you don’t even know it.
K: Lord I pray that you open my eyes to those around me, so I can see the need hidden in their hearts. Let me be your servant. Help me to love my neighbor as you have loved me. Help me not to fear when I need extra love myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment