What do you do when what you have or who you are is not enough? What do you do when life gives you more than you can handle? What do you do when you are giving everything you’ve got, but it is still not enough? What do you do when you look into the cabinet of your life and realize you don’t have enough? You don’t have enough energy. You don’t have enough patience. You don’t have enough forgiveness. You don’t have enough love. You don’t have enough money. You don’t have enough time. You just don’t have enough.

Now listen, we have a very good God. We have a God who is on the throne, a God who reigns supreme. A God who cares about you. A God who knows your need and knows how to meet that need the best. He is a loving God, gracious God, generous God, and all-wise God.

If you find yourself right now wondering, how are we going to make it, how are we going to get through this. I want you to consider this statement, when you don’t have enough, not enough is where God starts. Not enough is where He starts. When you are at the end of your strength, He promises that “My grace is sufficient for you,” that in your weakness, God says, “My strength will be made perfect.” If you find yourself today hurting with not enough, not enough is where He starts.

Let’s pray. “Heavenly Father, when we don’t have enough and when we don’t feel like enough, we know You are enough. Thank you for meeting us in our place of emptiness. Thank you for being there when we get to our ‘not enough.’ God, I am asking you to speak to us, encourage us, and give us hope today. Meet our need and glorify Yourself in the way You do it.”

I am desperate

We are in a message series on the prophet Elisha. And today we are going to see the prophet come across a widow whose life was falling apart as she had lost her husband, and now she’s afraid she’s about to lose her two sons. She’s grieving and she’s afraid. She feels like she has nothing left. And we see her story in 2 Kings 4:1 which says, One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”

Here we have a widow who’s now a single mom. We don’t know her name. Her husband has died, and he’s not some random guy. He was from the company of prophets, which would’ve been young men that studied under Elisha. They were kind of like seminary students who were learning to become prophets. And she says, “My husband is dead. He loved God and he served you well. We have a large debt to pay back and my two sons are about to be taken away from me because of this debt.”

Now what does that mean? In that time in history, it sounds crazy, but if you owed money to someone, they legally could come and take your children as temporary slaves, not forever, but your sons and your daughters might have to work off a debt for the next four or five or six years. And so, you can imagine she’s devastated. She’s a widow and couldn’t easily find work in her culture. She’s looking at her situation. She’s like, “I got no husband, I got no protection. I got no money. I’m about to lose my sons.” In her mind, she has no hope. She is desperate. She is afraid.

How can I help you?

So how does the prophet Elisha respond? I love the question that he asks. Look with me at verse 2, Elisah asked, “What can I do to help you? That is one of the best questions we can ask anyone who is hurting, afraid, worried, or in need. Instead of asking “How can I help you?” we often ask, “How did you get into such a mess?” or “Why did you allow this to happen?” Instead of being judgmental or condemning, let’s be a people of grace and let’s be servants. Let’s ask, “How can I help you?” Jesus said the greatest are those who serve (see Matthew 23:11). When someone is hurting, they need someone who has a compassionate and serving heart. Be that person!

What Do You Have?

Then Elisha goes on to ask, “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” “Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil” (NLT). Elisha asked, “What do you have in your house? What you got?” Her immediate response was “Nothing at all.” That was not completely true or accurate. There is something worth observing here. The truth is, when you are hurting, it’s really easy to see what you don’t have, and she’s focused on what she doesn’t have, right? She didn’t have a husband. She didn’t have any savings. She didn’t have a job. She didn’t have anything in her house. And I think in her mind, she didn’t have any hope.

About twenty years ago I pastored a church that just about killed me. The weight of the problems in the church was at times overwhelming. There was division in the church, conflict among the staff, and church had a lot of baggage from the damage that was caused from the previous leadership. It weighed on my kids, my marriage, and me personally. That church just about beat the life of God out of me. I had gotten to the point where I was seriously thinking about leaving the pastoral ministry and taking a secular job. I was thinking about quitting the ministry. It was killing me. I’m probably catastrophizing. Even though it was very difficult, I made some good friends, I grew from it, people were saved, and people grew spiritually. In the middle of all that, I was focusing on what we didn’t have, rather than what we did have. When you are hurting, it’s really easy to see what you don’t have.

The widow in our story was afraid. Fear has a way of doing strange things to your heart and mind. There is one thing I know about fear, and that is fear doesn’t just exaggerate, fear lies. Fear doesn’t just exaggerate, fear lies and “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind,” and right now there’s a lot of people listening to the enemy who is spreading fear. Your fear is causing you to focus on what you don’t have, rather than what you do have.

  • You were hoping for that promotion or that raise, but it didn’t happen. You start to worry or fret about not being appreciated or overlooked, and your fear focuses on what you didn’t get rather than what you already have. You have a job, you have an income, and you will get another opportunity to prove your worth.
  • Or you pray, and you worship, and you talk to God, and you call on God, and you don’t hear from God, and you feel like he’s distant, and you wonder, “God, are you even there? And if you are there, have you forgotten me? And that’s what some of you may be doing right now. You are letting the fear of what you don’t have drown out the faith in what God has already given you right before you.
  • You look at your marriage and your fear focuses on what it’s not, rather than what it is or actually could be. Your fear will exaggerate the worse things, and lie to you about the best things in your marriage.
  • You look at your kids and your fear focuses on what they are not, rather than on how they have already grown and who they could become. Your fear will exaggerate the worse things about your kids, and lie to you about the best things about your kids.

When you are hurting it is easy to see what you don’t have. And fear doesn’t just exaggerate, fear lies.

A small jar

And Elisha asked her, “What do you have?” And she says this in verse 2, “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.” (2 Kings 4:2, NIV). What do you have? Nothing except a small jar with a little bit of oil. When your husband’s dead, and you are about to lose your sons, what can you do with a little bit of oil? And the answer is, “Not much.” But you can do a little. What can you do with a little bit of oil?

  • Well, you can cook with oil. You can do that.
  • You can use the oil to burn some lamps at night. You can do that.
  • You can mix the oil with some herbs, and you can create some medicine. You can do that.
  • You can use the oil to anoint someone or something and pray for a miracle from God with just a little bit of oil.

It wasn’t much. And how could something very ordinary meet such a huge need? She didn’t have a lot, but what she did have in God’s hands became the means for a miracle. And some of you right now, you are hurting, your are afraid, you are desperate. You don’t know where to turn. You don’t have enough. You literally don’t enough.

  • Some of you are in a single family home, you are like, “I don’t have enough time.” I’m doing two jobs and trying to raise the kids. I can’t get it all done. I don’t have enough.”
  • Some of you say, “I don’t have enough confidence to believe in myself.”
  • I don’t have enough faith right now to even trust God with today or tomorrow.
  • Some may say, “I don’t have enough hope that I will ever have a good life or experience the presence of God again. I don’t believe that things will ever change for the better in my life.” I don’t have enough.

Remember, not enough is where God starts. When you get to the end of yourself is when you best experience the presence, the goodness, and the strength of our God.

Offer God what you have

So, what do you do when you don’t have enough? Literally, what do you do? Like practically, what do you do? You just have a little. What do you do? Here is what you do, you offer God what you have and trust Him to give you what you need. You take what little thing you have, and you say, “God, I trust you with this,” and you believe that our good God, who will meet every need through his glorious riches in Christ Jesus, will give you everything that you need for life and godliness. “God, I offer you the time I have. I offer you the little faith I have. I offer you the little hope I have. I offer you the little energy I have. It’s yours.” Offer God what you have and trust Him to give you what you need.

And I don’t know about you, but I want to take a moment, and I want to thank my God right now, and give him praise for who He is. I am so thankful that we serve a God who knows how to do a lot with a little. We serve a God who can take a little and do miracles. We have a God who is enough, when we aren’t enough.

  • When a little shepherd boy named David faced the giant, Goliath. David decided to trust God with what he had. A sling shot and five stones he picked up off the ground. That’s not a lot. And David only needed one stone because we serve a God who can do a lot with a little.
  • Jesus was teaching out in the country on a hillside one day. There were a few thousand people listening to him. This was an all-day event. The people started getting hungry and they became more and more hungry as the day went on. I don’t know about you, but I’m not pleasant when I’m hungry and I don’t want to be around thousands of people like me who are hangry. And someone says, “Anybody got any food?” And a little boy, I’m paraphrasing, says, “I don’t have a lot, but I got a little.” He opens up his SpongeBob SquarePants lunchbox, and he says, “I got five loaves and two fishes.” And in the hands of God, a little became a lot. We serve a God who can do a lot with a little.

Some of you will say, “Well, I just don’t even have much faith right now. I don’t have hardly any faith at all in God at this moment.” I’m going to ask you, “Do you have a little faith?” Do you just have any small amount of faith in you? And you do because you are here. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t have just a little bit of faith. And Jesus said, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible” (Matthew 17:20, NLT). We serve a God wo can do a lot with a little.

Offer God what you have and trust Him to give you what you need.

Empty Jars

The widow doesn’t have much, just a little jar and a little bit of oil. And in 2 Kings 4:3, the prophet Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors” (NLT). This is Elisha’s way of saying, “Go ask some people for help. Go ask some neighbors for some jars.” What does that mean? That means that the widow had to admit her need. And most of us, including me and many of you, we don’t want to do that. We don’t want to ask for help. We don’t want to receive help. We don’t want to admit that we need help. Why? Pride doesn’t borrow jars.

Some people have a hard time asking for empty jars. They have a hard time asking for help. There are some people who are praying and asking God for a miracle, but He is telling you go ask for help, but they don’t do it because they are too proud. And sometimes your answer (miracle, provision) starts with admitting your need. “God I need your help and I need the help of others.” Elisha says, “Ask your neighbors for jars.” God is going to meet your need, but God is going to meet that need through the people in your life.

Just for you

And then in verse 3, the text says this. And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. I like this, I don’t know why, but it’s almost as if God is saying, “Hey, I’m going to do a miracle behind closed doors because this isn’t for anybody else to see. This one is just for you.” I love it when every now and then, God says, “Hey, I don’t need anyone else to know about this. I’m just going to do it just for you.”

Go and close the doors behind you and “Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled” (2 Kings 4:3-4, NLT). She did what she was told and then in verse 5, “Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons. She kept filling one after another. Her sons kept bringing her one after another empty jar. She kept filling, pouring from her little flask of oil. Then another one. Then another one. Can you imagine how they must have felt. “There aren’t any more! He told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing” (vs. 5-6, NLT). Then verse 7, When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over” (NLT). Because with God, not enough is more than enough. As long as there were empty jars, the oil kept flowing. And notice, what kind of jar did God ask for? He could use any size, any shape. Bring me a milk jug. Bring me an empty peanut butter can. The only requirement was the jar had to be empty.

Empty Yourself

Let’s talk about these empty jars for a moment. God wanted her to have the empty jars so He could pour into it. And we have seen this principle before. And maybe you are like me, you are full of yourself. Full of your desires. Full of your pursuit of comfort. Full of what you want more than what God wants. Maybe you have been full of pride, full of anger, full of bitterness, full of lust, full of greed. Maybe your life has been filled up with things that don’t honor God. Now listen carefully, the only way God can fill you is if you empty yourself.

  • Somebody here needs to empty yourself of the shame that you have been carrying.
  • Someone need to empty themselves of the need to look strong and to impress people when the truth of the matter is your are hurting and you need them.
  • Someone here needs to clean out the anger that is poisoning you.
  • You need to empty out the fear that’s paralyzed you.
  • You need to empty out the comparisons, “I suck. I suck. My life sucks. My life sucks.” That’s robbing you of joy.
  • You need to empty out the devil’s lies that are poisoning your mind and telling you what you are not and what you can’t do and that God’s not with you, and that you will never make a difference in this world.

Renew your mind with the power of God’s Word. Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And cry out to God and draw near to God because when you draw near to God, God will draw near to you.

So you empty your life of what doesn’t matter, and you watch God fill your life with what does. And when you empty your life of sin and self, He will fill you with His Spirit and He will fill you with purpose, and He will fill you with power, the same power that raised Jesus from the grave. The Holy Spirit dwells within you and when you get to the end of your strength, His strength is present.

Not enough is where God starts. And when you don’t have enough, God is more than enough.

Be a part of the miracle

Let’s think about this miracle for a moment. Who was involved in this miracle?

  • The prophet Elisha was involved. He was definitely a part of the miracle.
  • Who else was involved? God was involved. It couldn’t happen without Him.
  • Who else? The widow, for sure.
  • Who else? The two sons.
  • Who else? The widow’s family and friends. Maybe some of them were in her Life Group. They loved her and cared about her and were willing to help. You need jars. I will give you all I’ve got. You can have our jars, because we love you

God did a miracle through His power, through His prophet, through His provision through the people that loved her and knew her. Many of God’s powerful provisional miracles he does through collective group of people.

Is it possible, that some of God’s blessings and provisions you have missed because you have kept yourself isolated from people, especially God’s people? Many of God’s blessings flow through His people.

Conclusion

Not enough is where God starts. But the question I want to ask you is this, What in your life do you need to empty so God has room to fill it? What do you need to release to Him so He can release His power to you? What do you need to pour out so He can pour in?

  • Maybe you need to empty your pride and your self-reliance so God can give you His strength.
  • Maybe you need to empty your fear, so God can fill you with faith.
  • Someone here, you need to empty your desire to control, so God can fill you with trust.
  • Maybe you need to empty the noise of the world. Shut off social media. Turn of the news. Empty the nose of your world, so you can hear the quiet voice of the Spirit say, “I am with you. I am here. I will guide you. I will get you through this.”

Maybe you feel like the widow. You are afraid, frustrated, confused, hurt. You don’t have enough to get through it. You think, “I have nothing left to give.” That is exactly where God does His best work because not enough is where God starts.

So we serve a God who takes empty jars or empty vessels because Paul said that we are jars of clay. We empty ourselves. We serve a God who takes empty lives and listen, he restores them to better than new. We serve a God that takes empty hearts and fills them with joy and purpose and meaning because you may not have enough, but I promise you, we have a good God. We have a good God! We have a good God who is on the throne. He’s big enough to rule the nations, and He’s loving enough to care about you. And we serve a God, church, who is always more than enough.

I’m going to give you a moment to just to pray your own version. Just ask God to empty you. “God, empty me of whatever it is, my fear, of my need to control, of my pride, my anger, my doubts, my insecurities.” Just tell him, “Empty me of this.” And then ask Him to fill you with His presence. Ask Him to fill you with His power. Ask Him to fill you with His provision.