2 Kings 4:1-7 (BBE)
1 Now a certain woman, the wife of one of the sons of the prophets, came crying to Elisha and said, Your servant my husband is dead; and to your knowledge he was a worshipper of the Lord; but now, the creditor has come to take my two children as servants in payment of his debt.
2 Then Elisha said to her, What am I to do for you? say now, what have you in the house? And she said, Your servant has nothing in the house but a pot of oil.
3 Then he said, Go out to all your neighbours and get vessels, a very great number of them.
4 Then go in, and, shutting the door on yourself and your sons, put oil into all these vessels, putting on one side the full ones.
5 So she went away, and when the door was shut on her and her sons, they took the vessels to her and she put oil into them.
6 And when all the vessels were full, she said to her son, Get me another vessel. And he said, There are no more. And the flow of oil was stopped.
7 So she came to the man of God and gave him word of what she had done. And he said, Go and get money for the oil and make payment of your debt, and let the rest be for the needs of yourself and your sons.

The miracle of God’s multiplication of substance was based on what was at hand to procure what was needed, in this case, a jar of oil was the available asset. What is your asset?
We weren’t told of the size of the jar, but just that a jar of oil was what this woman had to her name.
The creditor was coming to take her sons for payment of a debt.
This miracle of multiplication parallels the jar of flour in 1 Kings 17:14-16, another miracle based on “your assets.”
What is in your hand? God’s question to Moses in Exodus 4:2 on Moses’ complaint of his inadequacies to lead. Moses’s asset was his staff, it gave him an identity, influence, and income.
What is “your assets?” what has the Lord given you that is part of you?
A jar of oil! Oil is a staple commodity in every society and useful for different purposes: lighting, heating, cooking, anointing, healing, even cosmetics: Psalm 104:15. A jar of oil! Not much to this woman but enough in God’s hands to turn things around for her as He can do for you. A jar of oil that gave this widow identity, influence, and income, going from debtor to oil tycoon in one day.
The creditor, the devil is waiting always to take us captive, not until jubilee but for eternity, wise up to your assets and cry to the Lord to rescue you before the enemy gets a hold of you.
This woman did not complain of the injustice of her children being taken as payment for her late husband’s debt and Elijah recognised like the woman the legality of the law but was quick to offer a solution that will not only solve the immediate problem but bring a lasting change to the life of this widow.
Notice how he suggested she makes use of her asset and then gives his first piece of practical advice: ‘Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbours, empty vessels and not just a few. The answer to the widow’s problems wasn’t hers alone; her neighbours had a role to play.
There are people around us always that have roles to play in our advancement, we need to recognise them and make sure that whilst we like to be independent, we must not stop them from receiving the blessings due them from helping and blessing us. There is a blessing and reward that awaits those who genuinely do things for you without expectations and payment.
God does not just deal with the area you prayed about but does a complete work of fixing even those things you’re not aware you needed, according to Ephesians 3:20.
This widow’s debt was paid by the grace of the God she believed in, but the miracle still needed the widow’s input to be activated, her obedience to the prophet’s instructions.
When you obey God in secret, God rewards you openly as He did this woman.
What is your asset? You may feel that you have little to offer; your resources are few. But there may be an asset somewhere in your possession which is going neglected. There may be the equivalent of a jar of oil that represents unseen riches and could be the answer to your problems. What is your asset?
Shalom