GIF Lessons From the Widow

“The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, ‘Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.’ ”
2 Kings 4:1 (NIV)

Lessons From the Widow
by Chuck Bentley

Perhaps no story illustrates the hardships of indebtedness better than the story of the widow in 2 Kings 4. I call it “A Mother’s Nightmare” or “The Worst Case Scenario for Bad Financial Consequences.” A helpless widow is vulnerable to lose her children for a loan that her husband created that she cannot pay.

There are certainly many financial lessons we learn from her:

1. God provided for her after she did her part and asked for help;

2. Her neighbors and children contributed to God’s plan for her deliverance;

3. God multiplied her oil through a miracle;

4. She had to go to work to sell the oil;

5. She paid her debts first;

6. She had a surplus to live on after she freed her children from enslavement by the creditors.

But I hope you don’t miss the bigger picture here. This terrible financial dilemma happened to the widow of a godly man.

Although the Lord mercifully met the needs of this widow, it is a story that should cause every godly man to avoid debt and prepare his estate in such a way that his own family will not suffer financial stress while also grieving their loss.

Daily Scripture Reading:
1 Corinthians 15 – 16