Miracle come from God, and relationships

In a few short days it will be Father’s Day, so I find myself thinking about my Dad and my Grandfather and several other men who have been spiritual fathers’ to me over the years and at different stages in my life.

Truncone

I am forever grateful to them all.

In a few days, I will be standing in front of the Dad’s and everyone else in my congregation to share from God’s Word and to affect their lives with some type of wisdom concerning fatherhood and being a parent in general. It is a daunting task because I think God just blessed me with two incredible children. Hannah and Abigail have made it pretty easy.

However, I think for the most part, more than any other service most pastors wonder, “What am I going to do for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day this year?”

So as the month of May began to turn into June and Father’s Day grew closer I began to pray about Father’s Day and what I would share.

My heart kept going back to this passage of scripture 2 Kings 4:1-7. That’s right! The story of the widow and the oil for Father’s Day? I found myself praying, “Lord are you sure?” but I kept going back to this passage of scripture. God’s ways are certainly not like our ways and his thoughts are not like our thoughts.

In the middle of wrestling over this in prayer, the Lord began to impart some thoughts and principles on me to share. I love the Word of God, it certainly is living and active. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

If we continue to wrestle with it, we will eventually submit to it and if we are wise we will never let go.

In 2 Kings 4:1-7; there is a woman whose husband died, leaving his wife in debt. In the passage, the creditor is coming to take her sons as slaves. The Widow’s husband was from the company of prophets so she calls out to the Prophet Elisha.

Elisha says, “How can I help? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” The Widow says, “There is nothing there at all except a small jar of oil.”

She might have only had a little oil, but a little bit of oil was enough. Oil in the scripture represents the Holy Spirit.

Fathers sometimes struggle with thinking they are not a good enough provider for their kids. I know I have at times. The truth is dads, we may think we have nothing, but even if you have just a little bit of the Holy Spirit, just a little bit of faith, God will prove himself to be more than enough.

In fact, you may be on the brink of a major miracle, all you need is just a little oil. Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for a couple, get as many as you can get.”

Men in general like to be alone when handling difficulty. We do not like everybody knowing all of our business. Men take care of things on their own. The problem with this is, it is not very healthy for us to be alone.

In fact, God said at creation it is not good for man to be alone. So he created woman. She was to be a help-mate not underneath him but rather a partner who comes alongside of him.

We need friends, companions and healthy relationships with healthy people. People who stand with you when the going gets tough. In order for your miracle to come to pass you need two things; God and people!

I know what you may be thinking, “I don’t need people I just need God.”

That is what most of us have been taught and it simply isn’t true. All Adam had in the beginning was God and God himself said that Adam needed someone else. I once heard Pastor Gary Brothers say, “The quality of your miracle is from God. The quantity of your miracle comes from relationships.” I have found this to be true in my life.

The Widow woman needed jars, she needed vessels. Elisha continues to say, “Go inside the house and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour the oil and fill the jars, filling them to the rim and then put them to the side.”

Parents do you desire to see the faith of your children strengthened? Let them be a part of seeing the miracle come to pass. Here is what I mean. A dear family member is ill or you have a challenge financially, instead of hiding it from them, let them be involved in praying and speaking their heart.

You will find there will be times when they will lead you. The faith of a child can be very powerful. What does the widow do? She leaves Elisha. She goes inside of the house, she shuts the door behind her sons. They brought the jars to her and she took her little jar of oil and kept pouring it into the big jars.

She kept pouring and pouring and the little jar kept pouring out into the other jars. She’s getting real excited now! She continues to pour. In fact, she gets to the last jar, continuing to pour the oil out and she does not even realize that it was the last jar.

She is so excited she says, “Son, give me another jar!” He replies, “Mom, that was the last jar.” The oil at that point stopped flowing.

A quality miracle from God and the quantity of the miracle came from her relationships. The Woman went to find Elisha, she had a “Praise report” to share with the pastor. Elisha tells her to sell the oil, pay off her debts and live off of the money that is left over. Her sons are safe, Her debts are paid, she is now debt free and has enough money to never go into debt again.

It took faith. And it took God. The Lord used the prophet, her sons, her neighbors and her ability to not doubt but work and follow instructions. It makes me think of Ephesians 3:20; Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.

---

Dave Truncone is the pastor of First Assembly of God Church in Van Buren. He and his wife, Heidi, have been married 26 years. They have two daughters, Hannah, 20, and Abigail, 16. They have lived in Van Buren for eight years.