Kingdom Woman: Embracing Your Purpose, Power, and Possibilities (8 page)

Yet because the widow committed herself to the instructions of the prophet, she experienced a miracle. Kingdom women obey God’s Word even when it seems to make no sense. Keep in mind that faith doesn’t always make sense. But it does make miracles.

Chrystal’s Chronicles

While washing dishes after a family meal, I began contemplating the value of the pots and pans that I have. I remembered back to when I got married and received various pots and pans as wedding gifts. Each time I would cook, I would furiously wash them afterward to try to keep them looking new and unused. You can guess
that my obsession with clean pots and pans didn’t last too long, as more cooking blemishes appeared faster than I could clean them.

Growing up, I couldn’t understand why my mother let her pots look “messy.” Now, as a grown woman myself, I know why. Good cooks have seasoned pots and pans. My mother’s favorite pans were usually the ugliest. My grandmother’s all-purpose skillet was cast-iron—a veteran of many years. My Crock-Pot is priceless, but it has scuff marks of its own. If a pot or pan isn’t marked up, then that would indicate that it hasn’t been used.

We tend to look at people who have life wounds and wonder what has happened to them. Sometimes those battle scars are a result of struggles that person brought on herself. Sometimes that person may have had no fault at all in the acquisition of her injuries. From the outside looking in, we may stop and stare because we tend to dislike noticeable imperfections. The fact of the matter is that many women with scuff marks are simply seasoned and, therefore, more available for God’s use because of their imperfection, inadequacy, or emptiness.

Like the widow who was down to her last jar of oil, many women know what it is like to be down to their last handful of energy, money, hope, or joy and still hear God’s voice asking them to give it all to Him by giving it all to others.

I can’t imagine giving up my last bit of food and putting it into other people’s jars. But sometimes the things that God asks us to do seem just as strange and far-fetched. Yet when we do them, we get to see Him show up in a way we would never expect. Granted, we are sometimes worse for the wear, externally—a little tried, tested, and bruised—but so are some of the most treasured pots and pans in our kitchens.

Living without smudges is possible, I suppose, but I don’t think that’s what God looks for when He searches for a heart that will commit to follow Him. Instead, He looks for whether the woman has learned to depend on Him, whether she knows the value of commitment and the supreme power of faith. That’s what He looked for when He sent the prophet to help the widow who was struggling just to survive with her two children, and that’s what He still looks for today.

One of the surest ways to stay off God’s miracle radar is to stay put in the cabinet of life in order to keep looking shiny and new. God isn’t looking for shiny and new; He is looking for a seasoned faith.

Just like my pots and pans, we have to count the cost of living as kingdom
women. A kingdom woman realizes that sometimes the stove God places her upon will get really hot. A kingdom woman understands that, at times, the stuff of life that she is required to “cook” may be very messy and leave evidence of her participation. But are we going to experience the good with the bad? Or are we going to experience nothing at all, hidden safely away in a cabinet?

As I grow older—the correct cooking term would be
seasoned
—I’m learning to fear the elements less. I’m learning that it is more valuable to step out in faith for God to use me than to hide away somewhere in my Christian walk where I won’t risk a bump or a bruise. I’m learning that to walk with a bit of life’s mess still on me—a few smudges, scars, or nicks—is a testimony to a God who, despite what little I have to offer Him and how insignificant it may seem in the big scheme of life, looks at more than what the world sees.

He looks at my heart. He looks at whether I respond to Him, like the widow, with faith and trust, or whether I judge my neighbors’ emptiness or my own. When we come in faith before a supreme and powerful God, He can make something out of nothing. Not only can He meet my needs, but He can also use me to meet other people’s needs as well.

The world we live in does not treasure bruises and brokenness, inadequacy or empty hands. The world despises weakness and the idea of a willingly submissive soul. The world does not value what God values—humility, emptiness, meekness, and the beauty of a servant’s heart. Our world does not appreciate or esteem difficulty, tough times, and the stuff of life that leaves a residue of grit or grime.

But God does.

God loves people, women, who are willing to trade in their shining exteriors for usefulness in His kingdom. God treasures the one who desires His purposes over an easy life. Our Father values women who love His plan for them more than they love their plan for themselves—even when His plan may hurt. God loves the woman who trusts that He will only let her experience the grit and grime necessary for Him to fully use her for His glory.

God loves a seasoned sister—a kingdom woman who chooses to be filled with His love and power—whether or not she has any of her own to draw from.

The Path of Wisdom

One of the biggest challenges in our Christian experience is committing to follow God’s wisdom rather than the world’s. The world’s wisdom is sometimes referred to as worldliness. Worldliness is simply that system set up by Satan that seeks to leave God out.

When the widow approached the prophet, he made perfectly clear from the very start that God’s way was going to be different from anyone else’s. God’s way often includes paths that we cannot figure out and that don’t make sense. If the woman was down to her last jar of oil, why was he telling her to go get everyone else’s empty jars as well? Yet that is exactly what the prophet did. He expanded the view of the woman beyond herself. In gathering everyone else’s jars, she now saw not only her own needs but theirs as well. Not only that, but the prophet also laid out a path of commitment to her that would demonstrate her faith.

The reason why so many people today are living short of the victorious kingdom life is because they have settled for conversion. Conversion is great—it reconciles you to God’s kingdom for eternity. But for God’s kingdom power to be active in you requires commitment. That requires dedication to His Word and His way. If there is no commitment to the King and His kingdom, and you choose to follow the world’s definition of wisdom or solutions instead, you will not see the manifestation of the King, because Jesus clearly stated, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).

When you come to Jesus with your challenges, like the prophet He says, “What shall
I
do for you?” This is a reminder that the One you approached is going to have a different path that requires commitment in order to see the miracle from it. There are four principles that I want to look at from the widow’s path of commitment.

The first principle learned is that God’s way is the best way to address life’s problems. The widow’s problem did not get solved until she got a prophetic word from God through Elijah. Until then, she was stuck. She was stuck with only human opinion. Human opinion is a lot like junk food. If you fill up on enough junk food, when the real stuff comes along, you will have no room for it. Because she went to the prophet first, the widow found the will to follow His words.

When you need a prophetic word from God—a
rhema
just for you—it is
good not to fill up on everyone else’s opinions. Human solutions may sound logical, practical, or encouraging, but when God has a word for you—when the Holy Spirit is talking to your soul—it is helpful if you are not so full with what everyone else is saying that you don’t have any room to hear Him at all.

The second principle from the choices of the widow is that God responds to your emptiness. God responded to the widow when she had nothing to offer. All she had was one solitary jar of oil. All of her other jars, pots, pans, and containers sat empty. What could she do with one jar of oil? Nothing. She didn’t even have anything to mix it with to make some food. She certainly wasn’t going to eat it straight.

One of the reasons it is often difficult to experience God’s miracles of provision is that we approach Him with our fullness rather than with our emptiness. We present what we think we have to offer to God rather than recognizing that apart from Him, we are literally nothing (John 15). The Bible has a word for that. It is called pride. The Bible also has a word for emptiness. It is called humility.

Pride is recognizing your own self-sufficiency, while humility is recognizing your own insufficiency. Scripture tells us clearly, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). There is no such thing as a proud kingdom woman, because the terms are mutually exclusive. In fact, they cannot coexist because the very definition of pride contradicts the definition of a kingdom woman aligned under the authority and rule of God.

One of the Temptations’ songs, “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” should be our theme song as believers in Christ. Because when you get too proud to beg God for what you need or too sufficient to need Him—because you think that you can do it on your own, you can fix it, you can solve it, you can face it—you lose out on His greater power and glory. As a kingdom woman, never be too
proud to beg for whatever it is you need from Christ. Admit to Him that you know your own emptiness.

The third important principle from the path of the widow is to give to others what you need God to give to you. Or as we read in the book of Luke, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (6:38).

The word
it
in that verse refers to the thing that you gave. Whatever you want God to do for you, give
it
to someone else. All the widow had was one jar of oil, yet the prophet instructed her to pour her one jar of oil into other people’s empty jars. She didn’t know what he was going to do with the oil once she poured it out. For all she knew, he was going to ask her to take the jars back to her neighbors and give her oil away. But she did it anyway.

This is the principle that Scripture is referring to when Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). What He was saying is that by giving, you open up a channel for which to also receive. In other words, by hoarding—or keeping what you think is yours only—you cut off God’s flow to you. If God cannot flow through you to others, then He won’t continue flowing to you. A blessing can be defined as experiencing, enjoying, and extending the goodness of God in your life. It includes being used by God to bless others as well.

When the widow committed herself to following the instructions of the prophet by pouring her last bit of oil into her neighbors’ empty jars, her emptiness then became full. As she poured, her jar kept refilling so that she was able to keep pouring until “she said to her son, ‘Bring me another one.’ But he replied, ‘There is not a jar left.’ Then the oil stopped flowing” (2 Kings 4:6).

You are only going to take this step of faith to give to others what you yourself need if you truly believe that God is your source. Because if God is your source, then the question is not whether you have enough to keep giving to others, but whether you have the faith to believe that He will replenish what you give away in His name.

God has promised to “supply all your needs according to His riches in glory” (Philippians 4:19,
NASB
) when you love Him and walk according to His will (Romans 8:28). That is a promise you can take to the bank, just as
the widow eventually did by selling the accumulated oil and retiring off the profit (2 Kings 4:7).

God Does Not Need a Lot to Do a Lot

The last principle from 2 Kings 4 is simple yet profound. God does not need a lot to do a lot. The little bit of oil that the woman had was more than enough for God to multiply. This principle shows up repeatedly in Scripture. All Moses had was a shepherd’s staff with a hook on the end, but when he threw it down and then picked it back up, it became the powerful rod of God. In fact, it was so powerful, Moses used it to open up the Red Sea and bring water out of a rock.

All David had was a slingshot and five smooth stones. In fact, all he used was one of those stones. Yet he defeated the giant that an entire army could not bring down (1 Samuel 17). All Samson had was the jaw of a donkey, and he slew the Philistines (Judges 15). All Shamgar had was an oxgoad, and he saved the entire nation of Israel (Judges 3).

All Rachel had were some jars full of water, but in offering the water to the camels of a stranger, she became a part of the lineage of Jesus Christ, our Savior (Genesis 24). All Sarah had was one son, and she became the mother to the entire nation of God’s chosen people (Genesis 21). All Jael had was a tent peg, and she was able to take down Sisera and change the course of an entire battle (Judges 4).

All the young boy who was listening to Jesus’ sermon had was some fish and bread. But it was enough to feed everyone and provide leftovers for the disciples to lug around. All Mary Magdalene had was a jar of perfume, yet she taught us one of the greatest spiritual lessons in the Bible.