How Big Is Your Vision?
2 Kings 4:1-7
What is your singular, most passionate desire? The greatest achievements in life are usually accomplished by this intense focus. Do you have a ruling passion? If so, what is it? Bob Feller was a great major leaguer, one of the very best. As a child, he loved to throw a ball, and by the age of 5 he spent hours every day throwing a ball through a hole in the barn wall. At the age of 10, his father bought him all the necessary equipment and provided him with a playing field on the family farm. At the age of 13, he pitched for a local team and averaged 20 strikeouts a game. At age 17, he began playing for the Cleveland Indians. As a Major Leaguer he had 6 seasons as a 20 game winner and three no hit games; 11 one hitters, and 266 career wins; and he set a record of 348 strikeouts in one season. It was because of Feller’s desire and he and his father’s vision to be the best, that he excelled as he did.
How big is your vision? What is your passionate desire? Churches need to understand the desire and passion and vision of Feller. God has a purpose and a plan for each Church and we need to be devoted to accomplishing it.
The average Church today is like a football game. You have 22 players on the field in desperate need of rest; being watched by 50,000 fans in desperate need of exercise! We are not saved to be spectators, but participants in God’s Great Commission. Get His vision!
We know that the world is antagonistic to our beliefs in Jesus Christ. They reject our faith and values. The world is careening out of moral control and we are called to be salt and light to it. We are not to be running away from our God-given responsibilities regardless of what the world thinks or may do. The Church is not to be known for its harshness and condemnation, but for our Love and being dispensers of God’s Great Grace. We must never forget that the world is our mission field. Our focus is to live out the Christian life and win people to Christ. We are not to drift from our God-given call
(Matt 28:19-20)
As we look at this passage there are several key truths that we need to understand if we are going to accomplish great things for God.
Elisha is a chief prophet in Israel, and is in charge of the School of the Prophets. One of the widows of one of the sons of the prophets came to Elisha in need. Her husband had died and she had lost her source of income and support. She was now bankrupt and her creditors were hounding her, and were coming to take her sons as slaves until the debt was paid. It was the responsibility of the sons to care for the family and without them there was no possible way she could pay the debt. The only option was to sink deeper and deeper into debt and despair.
We need to understand that when we attempt to do every thing on our own, and in our own strength, we will end up in the same condition as the widow. When we try to be successful in our own strength and efforts, when we attempt to serve God on our own, we will be met with disappointment.
The key to accomplishing God’s purpose and plan is to be filled with the Holy Spirit; allowing Him to be in complete control, not us. I cannot be the Christian I need to be without the Holy Spirit. We cannot the Church we need to be without the reigning presence of the Holy Spirit.
We see the profound vision and faith of this widow as she relies on God and His power and provision for her life. If we are going to understand God’s vision for us, and fulfill it, we must understand this truth.
I. The Widow Trusted God v.1 “the wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha. “Your servant my husband is dead…”
A. She didn’t go to every other source, and then come to God. We do that don’t we? We believe we are entitled to everything, right now, even if we don’t have the money to get it. We put something on a credit card and say the Lord has blessed us. The Lord has not blessed us until we have paid the thing off. We’d be better off making do with what we have until we get the money we need to buy the thing we want. Debt should be something we enter because there is a real need, not a sincere want. The Bible warns us about going into debt because it can turn you into a thief and a robber. “No, not me, pastor. No not me, God.” But God says every time we do not pay our tithes, we have robbed Him of what belongs to Him. The moment we can’t pay our bills, we cut our giving to the work of Christ. God has a plan, but most of us won’t allow God to use it. He says if you quit stealing from Him, and bring the whole 10%, watch and see if I don’t open up heaven and pour out a blessing. It’s amazing we’d rather give the god of Visa or Master Card the 15-23% rather than the God of all Creation His 10%!
This widow went straight to Elisha, God’s man. So in essence she trusted God for His provision. She didn’t have a Visa or MasterCard, or American Express, but she had a great faith in God. When will we understand this truth?
(Jeremiah 29:11-14; 33:3)
B. We have the great and precious promises of God’s Word about Him meeting our needs. Why don’t we live like we believe it? We say adamantly that we believe the Bible is God’s Word. We argue over it, fight for it, but we don’t live like we believe it. (Phil 4:19; Mark 9:23)
G. Mueller, who in England built several orphanages. He had no personal salary, relied totally on God to supply the money and food he needed to support the hundreds of homeless children he befriended in the name of Christ. It’s said that millions and millions of dollars flooded into ministry of Mueller during his lifetime for those children. Mueller, a man of radiant faith, kept a motto on his desk for many years that brought comfort and strength to his heart. It read: “It matters to Him about you!” It is true. God never fails to supply the needs of His children.
II. She Followed God’s Plan (v.2-5)
A. Elisha’s question prompted her to look at what she had. He wasn’t going to give her six winning numbers for the super lotto. Many people think if the Lord would just let me win such and such a sweepstake, then everything is going to be all right. Winning a million dollars will not make you any more like Jesus than being without a million will. The determination to be more like Jesus has nothing to do with external circumstances. If we cannot serve Christ where we are today, God’s not impressed with our promises to serve Him if we ever get to the place we want to be in order to be faithful.
B. Elisha did not see what monies he could garner by donation from outside resources. He asked “what are your resources? What is available for God to bless?” Remember the feeding of the 5000? Nothing is impossible for God. Our problem is we look at what others have and think how nice it would be to have what they have. We have an inward focus that hinders us from seeing what positive things we have. Are offerings poor? Yes, but does that mean we do not have the potential to become tithers? Attendance may be down, but that does not mean we do not have the potential to become faithful in worship. We can grow in our hunger and desire for God and His Word. See all the possibilities around you and go with God’s plan.
C. Elisha wanted to see how badly this widow wanted God’s plan. “What do you need? And What do you have?” A gypsy woman stood at a crossroads. Three times she threw a stick into the air, letting it fall to the ground each time. A man passing by asked “Why do you do that?” The gypsy replied, “Because I want to know which is the right road for me to take. I will go whichever way the stick points.” The man then asked, “But why throw the stick up three times?” To which the gypsy said, “Because not until the third time did it point in the direction that I want it to go”
How often do we deal with God in the same way? We throw Him and try to back Him in a corner. We try to manipulate Him into what we want, and then we seek to call it revival. It is not until we see the urgency of our need that God will break through and meet that need. God wants His people to have revival. We must see the desperation of the need and call upon God and follow His divine plan. Our eyes must be fixed on God. How big is your vision? Do you desire for God to do the supernatural? Do you desire for Him to do it in you? Are you willing to forsake everything and commit yourself to be loyal to Him and Him alone? Until that happens in us individually, it will not happen to us corporately. To the hungry soul, God will satisfy. To the thirsty heart, God will satisfy. To the longing being, God will satisfy. It is only found in Him and His plan. What ever is more precious to you than God, spell it I – D – O – L.
D. God’s plan was carried in what the widow already possessed. The manifest presence, power, person, and anointing of God begins with what we already have. It begins with you, and it begins with me. We need to be the power source in this world that God has called us to be. We need to be like Joshua and the Israelites as they marched into the Promised Land (Josh 1:5-8)
Let God and His plan work within you. Paul said “Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works IN US!” How big is your vision? It begins in you. It begins in me. It begins in us. Don’t look anywhere else. Though we may have little, it is enough for God to use and ignite into flames of revival. The problem does not lie in what we possess, but in what we perceive. It does not lie in what we experience, but is what we expect. If you don’t expect God to move, He won’t. If you permit Him to move within you, He will. How big is your vision? How big is your God?
III. Blessing came in proportion to her expectations. V.6-7
A. This woman had faith in God’s plan. She believed the sufficiency of God’s provision. Elisha told her to borrow many vessels. God was going to do what only God can do. He is going to go above and beyond all her wildest dreams. His provision will be supreme. Remember, she had lost her husband, her only source of living. She was about to lose her sons to the creditors. She was reduced to a small jar of oil; that’s all she had left, but God used that one thing compounded by her faith and made it a source of tremendous blessing. God delights to take the little we bring and make it much. God doesn’t want us to merely meddle our way through our Christian life. He wants to fill us to overflowing with His Holy Spirit. We must obey Him, trust Him, and follow Him; and allow Him to create an endless supply.
B. Every Christian must exercise faith and be committed to God is he or she will see God work. Let God remove any thing that is a distraction from His purpose and plan in your life. It is absolutely amazing that God chooses you and I to work through. What a great opportunity! Are you willing to step out in faith and trust Him? We must be like the widow – the first step in being used of God is to see that you have nothing to offer, then the Holy Spirit will show you something you can offer, and God can take that and reach the world.
Rev 3:20 – Jesus is talking to a cold, self-sufficient church. The point is that we can have as much of God as we want. God’s chief desire is that we simply know Him fully and enjoy His love and fellowship, and as we do, we will want to be used by Him fully. (When your lungs want air, you will find God)
C. They had to do their part in God’s plan. God told them to gather jars in which to collect the oil. After all the jars were filled, they sold the oil and the profits were enough to pay off the creditors and live on the rest! The size of the blessing was determined by how obedient and hard working she was in getting the jars. She didn’t know it, but God’s plan was to pay off the creditors and provide for her the rest of her life! Suppose, all she did was to just get enough jars to get by with. Her creditors would’ve been paid, but sooner or later she and her family would have been in the same predicament.
Lesson: when we do things for God with our whole hearts, to the very best of our abilities, there is always a blessing for us. We must stop thinking of this as our church. Think of it as God’s building. Don’t look at each other as individuals, but as a team, co-workers together with God. Don’t look at the world as a disgusting, sinful, repulsive place, but as the field of ministry in which you are to take the love and grace of God. The more we seek to reach others for Christ, the more blessings we are going to return upon our own heads. God has a plan for every life here today. If we are not saved, that plan begins with coming into a right relationship with God by receiving Jesus Christ as our Savior. Until we begin the journey of walking with Jesus Christ, we cannot know the plan God has for us. Tell the person next to you. “God has a plan for you.”
How big is your vision? How big is your God?
