Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Eli′sha, “Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.”
Peter Larson, former missionary to Mexico, told the story of the cost of one family paid for being a disciple of Jesus. One of his students was a young mother of two. She was also a recent widow of a Baptist pastor. Her husband was killed by a machete because of his witness for Christ. Though a full-time student, she was seeking to help plant a church near the Bible institute.
Shouldn't God have provided protection for the young widow and her children? Why did something like that happen to one committed to serving the Lord?
The Bible story today speaks of another episode in the life of Elisha and has to do with a young widow. The context of the passage implies she was married to a son of a prophet, perhaps a seminary student in our culture. He loved God, but did not have very much money. The couple had two young sons. They were desirous of serving the Lord, but tragedy came, and the man died leaving his family in poverty.
We learn from their faith and failings of men and women in the Bibe, from their temptations and victories. People had problems like we have. They have temptations and we see how the power of the Lord is used in their lives for victory. We have the same Spirit. We see how trials were endured with hope. That gives hope in our trials. They demonstrate faith and holiness in a society that was corrupt and perverse. That tells me we can also be faithful and holy.
We see God involved in people’s lives in their homes, businesses, marriages, laws, in their feasts and fasts, in their births, and in their deaths. Situations are not always glamorized, but God is involved in receiving glory through the circumstances.
Today many face more debt than ever before. Sometimes it is because of unwise decisions to buy more than what they can afford. Sometimes it is a result of poor money management. But what we also see is circumstances over which we have little control-the loss of job due to economic downsizing, the death in a family, an illness requiring unplanned expenses or sometime tragedies such as fires, thievery, or car accident.
There wasn’t life insurance and the young man who loved the Lord and provided for his family died unexpected. What was his wife to do?
We will explore how she sought to resolve her debt.
