GOD HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES -- Devotional for February 23, from "Good Seeds"

Tell me, what do you have in the house?" "Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil," she replied. So Elisha said, "Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. Then go into your house with your sons and pour the oil from your flask into the jars." So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim! When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, "Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over." (2 Kings 4:2-7 NLT)

"God helps those who help themselves."
Is that true? Can you find this statement in the Bible? Well, maybe not exactly as quoted here, but the principle is illustrated in the story of the desperate widow. She had no husband to bring home the bread, but two sons under foot and always hungry! But they weren’t going to bother her much longer, for her dead husband’s creditor had just given notice: “Two thousand dollars, or your two sons – your choice!” (Those were indeed harsh times!) Now, what was the first thing this woman did? She cried out for help. It doesn’t say she prayed to God. She may have, but when the man of God came by she also made her needs known to him. Lesson #1: Pray to God, but don’t be shy about turning to God’s people, too. They can do three things for you: 1) They can storm the gates of heaven on your behalf; 2) They can be used by God to answer your prayer; or, 3) They can give you wise counsel as to what to do next. And that’s just what Elisha did. From his counsel comes Lesson #2: Start with what you’ve got. Isn’t that what Jesus did when He turned a lunch for one into a feast for five thousand? God did a miracle through Jesus for that crowd, just as He did a miracle through Elisha for that widow. But in each case He didn’t make something out of nothing (He could have, of course. Remember how the world was created?) God truly takes over where our resources run dry, but let’s truly run them dry! One man said, “Pray – but row away from the rocks!” Absolutely! If you’re little boat is in trouble, and you have some oars, can’t you pray while you row? This widow seemed helpless, and God was going to intervene, but He chose to work through what she had. She had some oil. Not enough to help, but enough to plant, for as it turned out it was seed for God’s harvest. But GOD wasn’t going to plant it. WE plant, WE water – then “let go and let God” bring the increase. Beware of prayer: don’t let it prevent you from doing what God (through God’s people?) is telling you to do!