Have you ever been really, really worried? Like when you lose your school backpack, or when you’re not sure if anyone will play with you at lunch?
The Bible tells a story about a mother who was facing a worry so big that it felt like a mountain was sitting on her chest.
She had no husband, and she had no money. Back then, if you couldn’t pay your bills, the people you owed money to could come and take you or your children to work as servants. Can you imagine? A knock at the door, and someone says, “You owe me money, I’m taking your kids.”
She was terrified. Her house was cold. Her cupboards were empty. She felt like hope had packed its bags and moved out.
But then, she heard that the Prophet Elisha had come to town. She ran to him and begged for help. Elisha didn’t give her a bag of gold. He didn’t give her a gift certificate. Instead, he asked her a question.
“What do you have in your house?”
She sighed. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing... except for one tiny, little jar of olive oil. But it’s almost gone. It’s not even enough to cook a meal.”
Elisha smiled. He knew that God loves to take a “little bit” and turn it into “a lot.” He said, “Go to all your neighbours and ask them for empty jars. And don’t just ask for a few—ask for as many as they have!”
So she sent her two boys to the neighbours. They knocked on the first door. Knock, knock, knock.
“Excuse me, do you have an empty jar we could borrow?”
It was a time of famine, so there was one thing everyone had – lots of empty jars. And that little town knew something we are learning this week at Big Camp: hope works best when we work together.
The first neighbour only had 2 jars, but they were tall. The next neighbour gave them 5 small jars. As they went from house to house, people started looking everywhere for more jars. One neighbour called out, as they walked past, “Hey! I just found five jars under the stairs! Take them all!”
It didn’t take long for the two boys to collect lots of jars. Heavy jars, old jars, chipped jars, and even some fancy jars. The whole town was connected by these empty containers. Even though they didn’t know what the jars were for, every neighbour gave what they had. Nobody knew that they were providing the “space” for a miracle.
The widow and her sons went back inside their house. They shut the door. It was just them, God, and a room full of borrowed, empty jars.
Mum picked up her tiny little jar of oil. She held it over the first tall, empty jar from the neighbour next door. Glug, glug, glug, glug, glug. The big jar was full! She looked inside her tiny jar... There was still the same amount at the bottom!
“Quick!” she told her sons. “Bring me another Jar!”
She poured again. Glug, glug, glug. The second jar was full.
“Another one!”
Glug, glug, glug. The boys were scurrying across the floor, sliding jars to Mum as fast as they could. Every single jar from every single neighbour was being filled with golden, beautiful oil.
After they had filled a lot of jars, Mum said, “Bring me the next jar so we’ll be ready when this one’s full!”
Her sons looked around the room. “Mum... there aren’t any more. We’ve used every jar we have.”
And the moment that Iast jar was full, the oil stopped flowing.
Mum went back to Elisha, and hugged him with joy! He told her, “Go, sell the oil, pay all your bills, and you and your sons can live on the rest of the money.”
That day, Mum got her family back and their future was safe. It all started because she was willing to ask for help, and it was a great success because her neighbours were willing to share what they had.
Sometimes, you might feel “empty.” You might feel like you don’t have enough talent, or enough strength, or enough hope. But look around at the people sitting here today. These people are your hope and future.
We are Together in Hope when we share what we have—even if it’s just an “empty jar”. Whatever we share—God fills it up. We are Together in Hope when we provide the space for God to do amazing things.
You are never too small to help someone else receive a miracle from God.
