A widow ran to Elisha for help because her sons were going to be taken away by the creditors as she was unable to pay her debts and Elisha asked her a simple question, “What do you have in your house?” This could also mean, what is on your inside or what gifts do you have that you can trade with? The woman was very quick to say, “Nothing” and as an afterthought, she added, “Except a jar of oil.” She did not see the jar of oil as a solution to her problem but it became the instrument God used to bail her out of trouble. This means that all along the answer to her problem was inside her but she failed to recognise it for what it was and was looking outside to have her needs met. Many of us are like this widow; when a crisis shows up, we look outside first for the solution but the truth is long before the crisis showed up, the solution had been deposited by God on our inside.
Leadership Lesson 1: She had something in her house. You have something in your house. What Do You Have In Your House? There is something inside you; God has placed a gift on your inside that you can trade with to ensure your departure from lack. Each one of us is created in the image of God and if God is a creator then it follows that we are also creators; creators of every good thing that we desire and creators of solutions to every problem we encounter. Whether we know it or not and whether we choose to believe it or not, the answer to every problem we face in life is on our inside. God has deposited a gift on the inside of all of us and that gift has the potential to create wealth for us and terminate our financial struggles.
Leadership Lesson 2: Until she looked inwards her struggle continued. Two, the solution to our problems is always within us; there is something in our house that will end our crisis.
Leadership Lesson 3: When she talked about her woes they only increased. The solution came when she talked about her gifts and focused on them.
Leadership Lesson 4: Sometimes great women need someone to help them see their gifts. Elisha had to challenge the woman to see what was already available to her
Leadership Lesson 5: Our help is always inside and not outside
Leadership Lesson 6: The things we look down on and which seem useless are usually the things that will be used to raise us. The widow didn’t think much of the jar of oil; the pancake woman didn’t think much of her ability to make pancakes but therein lay their breakthrough.
In conclusion, if we want a change in our circumstances, we must accept responsibility to trade with the gift deposited in us.
