Greener Grass

Give text early 2 king 4 1

Introduction: Ever hear the phrase the grass is greener on the other side? Wherever I live, it’s not just a saying, it’s a reality, I”m not a yard guy, really in general I don’t think too much about keeping up with others, but maybe you do.Our History of lawn care, condos, small yards, medina, here, cool big yard do some fun stuff sort through, it… massive trees with leaves everywhere, vols, mole killer to grub x, secretly I want to hit balls in my yard

The color of one’s grass may seem unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but it does present an age-old challenge.

How do we overcome a scarcity mindset that compares our lack of resources to another’s blessing?

One author said, “If the grass is greener on the other side, water your grass.” Even more than that the answer to greener pastures is to recognize the blessings God has already given.

2 Kings 4:1-7 “Now a woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go, borrow containers elsewhere for yourself, empty containers from all your neighbors—do not get too few. Then you shall come in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour into all these containers; and you shall set aside what is full.” So she left him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they began bringing the containers to her, and she poured the oil. When the containers were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.” But he said to her, “There are no more containers.” Then the oil stopped. So she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”

What do YOU have?

Focus on what she said At first glance, this story of the Widow’s Oil in has absolutely nothing to do with greener pastures or your neighbor’s yard. But let’s look at verse 1 again. “Now a woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” Her husband is dead, and she can’t pay back the debts that have been accumulated. A historian from Bible times named Josephus believes this widow is none other than the wife of Obadiah, the prophet of Ahab. It’s assumed he borrowed the money to extend support to the hundreds of prophets he kept in hiding. Regardless, the widow has a problem. According to the Law of Moses, if a person was unable to pay their debts, the creditor had the right to take their children. In other words, Visa is planning to send a couple of thugs her way to enslave her children.

But in verse 2 Elisha asks an important question. “So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.”

Notice what Elisha doesn’t do for her. He doesn’t go to his bank account to write her a check. He doesn’t start a gofundme page in memory of her deceased husband. He doesn’t use his prophetic gifts to give the widow the numbers to a winning lottery ticket. Instead, he helps her rethink the situation. Rather than looking everywhere else for the solution, he asks, “What do YOU have in YOUR house”? So many times, we are tempted to look at what everyone else has. But Elisha asks, “What do YOU have?” The widow doesn’t think she has anything of value. “Your servant has nothing here at all”, she says. But then she pauses. Wait a minute, she says. I do have one thing. I do have “a small jar of olive oil.”

Why is it the so many times when God asks the question what do we have... Why is it that when He commissions us for a kingdom-shaking task, we start off making sure He knows what we don’t have?

God wanted Moses to free His people, Moses said I didn’t pass speech class.

Jesus wanted the disciples to feed the thousands, they tell Jesus they have 5 loaves and 2 fish, but they phrase it by saying we have nothing except this.

To Moses God replied I’m not worried about your speech, I created the mouth of every human, and decide if they are deaf or mute.

Jesus looked at the disciples and said of course that’s all the food you have because I haven’t blessed it yet.

We measure our ability and gifts and find them coming up short because we haven’t yet placed them in the hands of God who can do whatever wants with them. Elisha asks the widow what do you have? and we pose the same question to you this morning. Here in a minute we will get to one other question but before we do let’s look at another point that I think we need to drive home this morning...

YOU are NOT others.

There is no doubt in my mind that keeping up with the jones’ and comparing ourselves to one another is a tale as old as time. Cain and Abel were comparing sacrifices over 6,000 years ago and it’s never stopped since. In fact, thanks to social media it’s now gotten worse, as we compare our shortcomings to people’s best days or even fake days that they fabricate with posed pictures and filters.

Most of the time when God asks or even others asks about what we have, our response is often attached to some sort of comparison.

Well our church isn’t as big as the one down the street...

I don’t have a big degree like other people...

I don’t know if we can afford to do that financially...

I’m not as pretty as she is or handsome as he is...

I’m not as gifted

I haven’t had the opportunities.

I don’t have the charisma.

We don’t live in the right area

My upbringing was hard

My marriage is shaky

My kids are crazy

The timing isn’t right

There’s no way i could possibly

May I just lovingly this morning say wha… wha… wha

Are you going to stand before God one day and say I was going to accomplish great things for you but I couldn’t find a babysitter, the right insurance plan, or the ideal circumstance? Know this that God doesn’t call people to places that are prepared. He is calling people to places where He needs you to lead and transform.

Church, God knows it all. In fact He is in the business of taking your weakness, your fraility, your perceived shortcomings, and doing wonder-working miracles through them.

Remember that story in the Bible where there rich, highly-educated, good looking, well-networked guy with the smoking hot wife and perfectly behaved children wins the day? What? you don’t remember that one either, that’s right, because it’s not in there!

If any of you have had a chance to read Pastor Mark’s book from last week you might have read where He wrote...

We have nothing to do with the administration of spiritual gifts. It’s not unusual to find certain believers who try to work themselves into some gift. They pray Holy Spirit, give me this. I really want that. I see how you use that person over there. Could you give me that gift so I could do what he [she] does? Yet the Spirit gives only as He determines, and He has it all figured out. If we seek a particular gift, we’re likely to miss Him. But when we seek Him, He will bring everything into our lives that we need.

Brothers and sisters, If you use other people’s bricks to build your house, it will crumble.

In Psalm 139 David said I will praise you for I AM fearfully and wonderfully made, an updated translations says, I am AWESOMELY made by God. Your unhappiness with your gifts, your constant comparison of yourself to others, is questioning the very special way that God formed and designed every fiber of your being and every intricate strand of your DNA.

You will never be the best and fullest version of all that God created YOU to be, until you quit chasing versions of everyone else. So that brings us to our second question this morning...

What will YOU do? (HOLD UP OLIVE OIL)

She has a small jar of olive oil. The history of the Middle East tells us that olive oil was a very important part of the economy. It was most commonly used for food, but also as medicine, cosmetic use in religious ceremonies, oil for anointing kings, and as a source of light. When it was prepared and stored properly, it had a long shelf-life and could be traded like currency. Granted, she only had a small jar of oil, but it had potential.

Verse 3 Elisha said, “Go, borrow containers elsewhere for yourself, empty containers from all your neighbors—do not get too few. Then you shall come in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour into all these containers; and you shall set aside what is full.” So she left him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they began bringing the containers to her, and she poured the oil.” Elisha helped this woman identify her assets, acknowledge them, and then surrender them to the Lord. (REPEAT) She would begin with what she had and then work to collect dozens if not hundreds of jars. She then brought the empty jars to the Lord, took her “small jar of olive oil” and started pouring. What happened next was nothing short of miraculous. The oil began to multiply to two jars and then three jars, five jars, and ten. Can you imagine her expression as the oil continued to flow? Can you imagine the excitement of her boys as they watched mom’s face turn from sadness and weariness to laughter and excitement? The widow thought the solution to her problems was found in rescue or escape. God provided another way.

We need to identify our gifts, fully embrace them, and then fully surrender them to the Lord.

RESPONSE (INVITE TEAM)

When challenges arise in life our first temptation is often to look elsewhere and seek greener pastures. But the first question to ask is, “What do YOU already have?” What has God already given you and how will you allow God to use it for his glory? When a hungry crowd of well over 5,000 people began to gather, the disciples wanted to turn the crowds away to go find their own food. There was no way they could feed them all. Jesus turned to the disciples and asked, “What do YOU have?” They noticed a young boy had five loaves and two fish and gave them to Jesus. He multiplied the gift by performing an incredible miracle. Samson was surrounded by hundreds of Philistines on every side with no plan of attack. It looked hopeless until God showed him something small. “What do YOU have?” He found the jawbone of a donkey nearby and slayed over 1,000 Philistines with supernatural strength. When David faced Goliath, people didn’t think he had what it took to slay the giant. They tried to outfit him with the armor of another. Instead, I imagine God spoke to David, “What do YOU have?” and he grabbed a sling and five smooth stones, using the gifts he had already been given. You know the rest of the story.

If i could share a story about two widows in my first ministry

(brochures, first church, color in thermometer, I did better in another one) 1 pledge of $10 a month, all I had to do is skip a meal a week, moved money around to do it, then $50k. believe with all my heart that the in the spiritual realm God used the sacrifice of one widow to release the prosperity of another. more than that her family she had been praying for came back to church. Church we have to stop telling God what we can’t do and start believing in all He wants to do through us. We have to stop telling God what we don’t have, so we can start receiving all that He wants to give us. He’s done it before, he’s doing it now, and he will do it again. Will you give Him praise this morning?

POUR OIL INTO BAPTISTRY,

Nick and Stephanie It’s so easy to get overwhelmed with what we don’t have. But what do you have?

If you are a follower of Christ, you have redemption through his blood, access to the throne of God, the right to be a child of God, eternity living inside of you, abundant life, the fruit of the Spirit, his anointing, and so much more. You serve a God who is able to do immeasurably more than you could ask or imagine. Todays Story should cause us to take inventory of the things we have already been given, surrender them to the Lord, and allow him to multiply his gifts.

christ be magnified, make him huge this morning

PRAY

BAPTISM

IN CLOSING AFTER BAPTISM? Teddy Roosevelt, one of my favorite presidents was once quoted as saying, “Do what you can, with what you have, wherever you are.”