“…as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him…For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete…” Colossians 2:6,9,10a
As is so often the case, New Testament doctrines are often illustrated in the people, places and/or events in the Old Testament. This is why Paul wrote to the Corinthians that they (the Old Testament Scriptures) were written for our instruction (2nd Corinthians 10:11). I could not begin to tell you how many times I have opened my Bible to 2nd Kings 4:1-7 to read how a prematurely widowed Hebrew woman was taught that when she received the Lord that she was given all of heaven! She, like every modern-day believer in Jesus Christ is complete in Christ! How many times I have been discouraged, read this passage and been reminded of the great treasure that I, too am complete in Christ, and He is more than equal to any need, or emergency that will ever arise in my life!
She told Elisha, the man of God (v 7) that her husband had died, and the creditor had come to take her two children to be his slaves (v 1). Apparently the couple had borrowed money in his lifetime, and now the lender was coming for his money. If he were dishonest, he could set the rate of interest so high that the boys would never pay off the debt. They would be enslaved for a lifetime. Elisha then did something on the surface that seems shocking. He asked the woman what she had in the house! She was in need, and Elisha asked her what she had! He was not mocking the woman. He simply knew the ways of God more intimately than the woman did! He knew that if this couple knew the Lord, then God had already made provision for them. Sure enough, she remembered that she had a jar of oil (v 2). This would be the very resource that would meet the need of this woman and her two sons (v 7). However, we sometimes overlook, as this woman did (v 2) the provision the Lord has made for His people.
When Moses asked the Lord how the people would believe that he had been sent by God to deliver them from the bondage of Egypt, the Lord asked Moses, “What is that in your hand?” Moses explained it was his shepherd’s staff. The Lord told him to throw it down. Moses obeyed, and the staff became a serpent. The Lord told Moses to pick it back up, and it became a staff again. But from that point on, it is now referred to as “The staff of God!” When we fully surrender our life to God, He doesn’t keep it, but gives it back. But it is never the same, it is stamped by His ownership, and we as ordinary people accomplish extraordinary things!
If we think we can handle our problems ourselves, we usually try, so we rarely see any more of the Lord in our life than we realize we need! That is why our greatest opportunities to see the work of God in your life are our problems, our needs! Do you have a God-sized problem? Go to the Lord; Wait before Him; Listen to Him; Obey Him!
Jon Moore
