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Elisha replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?"
"Your servant has nothing there at all," she said, "except a little oil."
~~II Kings 4:1-2 [emphasis mine~KW]
LESSON LEARNED: Just in case you haven't noticed, we live in very hard economic times. :-/ Back when I started this blog, it wasn't so bad. And as the Lord would have it, a few years before that, I started "experimenting" with a more frugal life-style; partly for fun, partly for the health of my family & partly to be able to pronounce the ingredients of certain foods & products by using what is largely on-hand. Sharing my experiences & what works for me is a big reason why I started blogging at Marmee's Pantry (the other is b/c I've been praying for a few years about opening a bulk food store by the same name, this blog was to be a pre-courser to the store).
In April of '09, my husband was laid off & my frugality in making our own personal care, cleaners & cooking more from scratch came to a real-life test. Pennies mattered & even in the hardest times, the Lord blessed our penny-pinching by reminding us that we had what we needed; we had all that was necessary, and the Lord worked miracles in the midst of our need.
Elisha met a women who could have used a few pennies. She was a widow and, as their harsh laws allowed, she was about to lose her boys to a debtors' prison. How desperate she was!
When she went to this man of God and told him her plight, he asked her, "what do you have in your house?" And like most of us in near panic would reply, she said, "Nothing . . . except a little oil."
"Nothing . . . except . . . "
Nothing . . . except . . . all that was necessary for a miracle.
How often do we over-look all that the Lord has already given us? We have far more in our houses than we think we do, we have far more imagination than we think we do, we have far more ability & ingenuity than we think we do, we are far more capable than we think we are . . . we serve a far more gracious and powerful God than we think we do.
Go to Him. Ask Him to guide your steps & to give you wisdom in your need, no matter what that need is (James 1:5). He owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Ps. 50:10) and He loves to help His children (Is. 40:31; Matt. 11:28-30).
Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><
Thank You for writing this post..your words have described my DH & I life for the past 4 yrs..I was preparing..people thought I a bit crazy...I am now teaching them what is important...I was lost wondering what my purpose in life was...God showed me..led me..and keeps my search for ways of old... He has made me stronger...Also being mostly debt free is so rewarding...
ReplyDelete~~Peace & Love & Healing & Blessings~~
"D"
So true! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis is such wonderful encouragement Kim! I am pretty sure my family of 5 could live off of the food that is already in this house for a month or more without buying a thing. *Feeling a bit convicted right about now* BUT that's always a very good thing :) Thank you and blessings!
ReplyDeleteSound advice as usual in such a Godly manner. We are stepping it up a notch by moving onto 42 God sent acres with a log home totally off grid. Our last earthly home to complete our 40 year journey together of being self sufficient.God is so good to us. So many lessons learned, and at times I was so sure that God had a higher opinion of us then I. As time again He requested painful sacrifices from us. But now the gift He has rendered is so bright.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written, Kim. I can attest to His faithfulness from similar times in our lives. The most important thing that we came away with in our hearts is that God is the supplier of our needs...we now look to Him and not the paycheck. He's NEVER failed us.
ReplyDelete