When Little Becomes MuchSc

Scripture Reading

Ephesians 3:19–21 KJV 1900

19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Introduction

There are moments in life when what’s in your hands doesn’t look like enough.

Moments It doesn’t feel like enough.

Moments you don’t feel like enough

Moments when The bills are bigger than the budget.

The calling feels greater than your capability.

The vision God gave you seems too vast for the resources in your grasp.

But the God we serve doesn’t need much to do great things.

All He’s ever required is a little surrendered with faith.

In fact, throughout Scripture, we see a recurring theme: when humanity gives God their little, He multiplies it into much.

This message isn’t just about miracles—it’s about mindset.

It’s about trust.

It’s about learning to see the seed in the soil and the overflow in the olive before the vessel ever fills.

But through the Bible we find over and over moments where God turned a little into abundance—and discover what He’s still ready to do today.

The Widow At Zapareth 1 Kings 17:8-16

1 Kings 17:8–16 KJV 1900

8 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, 9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 12 And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. 13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 14 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. 15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.

I want to talk to you today about a woman

This woman by no fault of her own found herself smack dab in the middle of a drought

You see we don’t fully understand the conditions of a drought the way they did back then

Now days through reservoirs and hydroponics we have learned how to mitigate the effects a drought has on a community or a society

But we understand that droughts occur when rain has not fallen in some time

And what tends to happen is the grass begins to dry out

Lakes and rivers begin to see their banks become more and more shallow

Vegetation begins to die and then one day you wake up and realize there is no means for your survival and all you have left is just a little bit of meal and just a small amount of oil

And to make matters worse in this civilization widows were even more vulnerable

I want you to understand this morning that this woman was in a tough place

We don’t know much about this woman other than she was a woman from modern day Lebanon, which at that time was still a devout Baal worshiping region

Marginalized, foreign, and likely impoverished, she had a home but she didn’t have two sticks to rub together

Has anyone else ever felt like they have been there

Out of place, out of season and out of luck

Look to the left and there is no help in sight

You look to the right and you don’t see anyone

You can’t move forward, but you refuse to move backward

Gathering kindling at the town gate

Getting ready to make her last meal

Friend I understand the there are times in your life when things are tough

I understand that there are times when you cant make the left from the right

Have you ever been there when things are hard and only getting harder

When life gets you down and then it kicks you

This woman had got to the point where she went to the very edge of safety and comfort, down by the gates of the city

No religious background that we know of

No reason to pray to God

As a matter of fact we don’t read about her crying to God at all by influence or setting

But the Bible says that God commanded her to sustain him there

again we don’t know if through vision or theophany or perhaps simply knowing the character of this woman

God knew how she would respond

Let me tell you there seems to be a special place in the heart of God for the widows and orphans, I am reminded of a time where Ishmael the son of Abraham and his mother were sent into the wilderness and when it got to the point where there was nothing left God came to her and provided for her

He promised her that her son would become a great nation

This widow we find though gathering stick to build a fire and prepare her last meal

Giving in to the pressures of her situation

to the point where there was nothing left for her to do, except bake a little cake

Knowing and understanding mothers the way that I do, most likely preparing to feed her son and eat the scraps

Nothing left

Have you been there

At the end of your rope

But it never ceases to amaze me that the great big God that we serve would reach beyond dispensation

He would reach past her situation

He would reach beyond her inlcination

And he would save this woman

I have come to believe in my life that when I am at my ends, God is just getting started

She didn’t cause the famine, she was simply living through it

She didn’t cause the drought, she was simply living in it

Friend let me tell you that everything that you’re going through is not because of some great sin you’ve comitted

It’s not because of some mistake you’ve made

But just like Job that enemy of the church, looks to see who he can sift

Who he can get to give up

Who will give in

Who will cave to the pressure

This woman set out that day completely prepared to accept her her circumstance

I’ll just bake a cake and when we’ve eaten it that will be all

But her story was not finished yet

This woman we understand had a history and a past for when the man of God came that day she asked him are you here to remind me of my past sin

Friend let me tell you this church is not a place of resurrecting past mistakes

We cant be a place of reminding everyone of their history

The church is called to be a soul saving station

A hospital designed to treat the symptoms of sin bandage the wounds of mistakes and dispatch them into the world to be a light

This woman understood her limitations as well as anybody else

She knew her short-comings intimately

But she recognized the man of God, and the word of God

She said to the prophet I know that you are a man of God and that the word in your mouth is truth

I wonder how many people saw this woman gathering sticks this day and looked down on her

I wonder how many people just simply passed her by not offering to help

Knowing that it would be impossible to take on two more mouths to their household

Not willing to redeem her

So God sent a man to stand in his place and bring life back to this woman

Friend I know that we say a lot about the life and death of Jesus Christ,

But I want you to understand the reason we are even here today is because God looked down at this sin sick world and said there is not a lamb good enough to redeem all of humanity for generations to come

SO I will be that lamb

And he came down to a world where we were lost a disillusioned and offered healing and hope

There is really only one message

That simply is the death burial and ressurection of Jesus Christ, for the sinner a stumbling block, but to the church a beacon of Hope

To the New testament church we experience that through death - repentance

We have to die to that old man, ask for forgiveness change our ways

Burial- the only way to heaven is through water baptism in Jesus Name

Being buried in the titles simply won’t do

WHen we are baptised in Jesus name we are baptised unto him, and we willrise with him

Ressurection - the infilling of the holy ghost

the newness of life

A new walk, a new talk, a resurrected life

This widow meets the man of God at the city gate, he looks at her in her current state and has compassion on her

God told him you will find a woman that I have commanded

Maybe simply at the urging of God to gather what she needed to prepare her last meal

Not fully understanding what God had planned for her

But when she met the man of God and recieved the word of God she responded with obedience and faith and made first a cake for the prophet

Have you ever went outside to grill a hamburger of some chicken and you fire up that old propane grill

You know the convenience of instant heat from those flames instead of building a fire around a charcoal bed

But about half way through your cook the gas runs out

maybe you have a gas tank in your yard somewhere that you have to get filled, but the gas man just doesn’t make it in time and the propane runs out

The flame flickers then fades

At the obedience of the word this woman baked first a cake for the prophet

I can remeber as a child baking cakes with my Grandmother

And young kids today won’t ever probably experienc this, but the first step was to take that flour and sift it

scoop it out out it in that old canister with a wire bottom and and handle and you had to turn it till all the flour went through

I wonder that day, this woman possibly had set back just enough meal and oil for when times get hard, I’ll have one more cake

My day never left home without a dollar in his billfold

Just in case something happened he could at least get change and make a phone call

But as she scooped out the meal that day I wonder if she though that day, well maybe there’s a little more in the bottom than I thought

And day by day she returned to the barrel

Day by Day the flour never failed

Jesus said if you knew who asked you for a drink

Let me tell you he will give you water from a well that never runs dry

This Phoenician widow exemplifies Luke’s theme: faith without background or pedigree moves God deeply

And Though she had little, her obedience—close the door, pour it out—made room for God’s supply.

Her capacity preceded her overflow

She and her son became spiritual beneficiaries, foreshadowing the Church and God’s heart for the outsider. (Gal. 4:26)

Galatians 4:26 KJV 1900

26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

And I wish I could tell you this morning that once shehad this encounter with God that everything went perfect for her

But it wasn’t but a short time later that we read that her son had died

She obeyed the word of God and yet still she had some trouble

Somehow we feel like that because we live for God and we give our tithes, we give our offering that we are exempt from trial

But let me tell you today this word says it rains on the just and the unjust

However I want to remind you that favor aint fair

there was still a light in Goshen

But understand dear heart that Goshen which is representative of the church, the base, the place of operation for them that they still had to venture into Egypt

They still had to walk in times of darkness

But they always knew where to go to find the liight

This widow now lost her son

He was fed miraculously, and yet that did not secure him from sickness and death

John 6:49 KJV 1900

49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

The affliction was to this widow as a thorn in the flesh, lest she should be lifted up above measure with the favours that were done her and the honours that were put upon her.

She was nurse to a great prophet, was employed to sustain him, and had strong reason to think the Lord would do her good; yet now she loses her child.

She was kept by the miracle

Sustained by God and yet now her son lay dead

Dead of a sickness, an affliction

But I want you to notice that boy did not die of hunger

But when that woman gave her little portion to God it became much

Everybody say little

She had a little bit of meal

Say little

She had a little bit of oil

Everybody say little

She could make a little cake to eat

But when she gave her little to God it became much

Her son lay dead but yet still the relationship she had with the prophet it just so happened that as she sit there holding her dead son in her arms

Clinging to the life that once was the prophet comes by

He took that dead boy and went up into a loft, the Bible says where he abode

So she had prepared a place where the voice of God could come to her

He took that boy and lay him on his his own Bed the Bible says

Three times he cried out to God

O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.

Three times as the child was dead and hopeless

Nothing but just a little bit of faith

three the number of ressurection

Three the number of validation

Three the number for completeness

And this life came back into the lungs of that boy

Thus the first resurrection we ever read about in our Bible becomes a foreshadowing of Christ

Illustration

It was early morning—April 19, 1775. The sun hadn’t yet fully risen over the quiet village of Lexington, Massachusetts. But before daylight could settle in, history was already in motion.

British troops—some of the most elite, professional soldiers in the world—were marching with precision, dressed in red coats, muskets in hand, armed with bayonets and royal authority. Their mission? Disarm the colonists. Crush rebellion. Restore order.

But on the other side of the field stood no army. No formal generals. No polished uniforms. Just 77 farmers, blacksmiths, and shopkeepers—ordinary men, standing shoulder to shoulder with dusty muskets and trembling hands. Many were fathers, some barely out of their teens. Their training? Minimal. Their firepower? Inferior. Their enemy? Overwhelming.

off in the distance, the rhythmic sound of boots striking dirt. Hundreds of them. The Redcoats were coming. British soldiers—over 700 strong—approached with grim purpose. They were the finest trained army in the world, armed and authorized by the Crown to crush dissent and confiscate colonial weapons.

But in the center of that green field stood a group of men who weren’t soldiers. They were farmers, blacksmiths, cobblers, fathers, and sons. Just 77 of them. Some wore hunting coats. Others had aprons still stained with yesterday’s labor. Their hands were calloused—not from holding swords, but from plowing fields and repairing roofs.

They were the Lexington militia. Local men. Men who loved their homes, their families, their freedom. They had no real military training. Their muskets were old and often inaccurate. By every natural standard, they had no chance.

Leading them was Captain John Parker, a man who was battling tuberculosis and could barely stand without pain. But that morning, he stood tall. He looked at his men and spoke words that would echo through the ages:

“Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon. But if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”

Can you imagine that moment?

The tension. The pounding of hearts. The clash between fear and resolve. Knowing that the enemy outnumbered and outclassed you—but still choosing to stand.

Then it happened.

A single shot.

No one knows who fired it—but that one bullet became the shot heard ’round the world.

The battle was short and brutal. Several of those brave men fell. The rest were forced to scatter. The British pressed forward to Concord, but word had already spread. Paul Revere had ridden. The bells were ringing. The people were moving.

By the time the British turned to retreat back to Boston, they were met with waves of colonists—from behind trees, from barns, from hilltops. Farmers and freemen pouring out by the hundreds. They weren’t fighting for territory. They were fighting for their future. For a nation not yet born.

That day, the world’s most powerful military was forced into retreat—beaten not by force of arms, but by the resolve of the “little people” who refused to give up.

That’s what happens when ordinary people take a stand with their “little.”

They didn’t have formal training, but they had courage.

They didn’t have the best weapons, but they had unity.

They didn’t have royal backing, but they had righteous cause.

And when they gave it all—they got more than they ever imagined.

That’s the kind of God we serve.

When you give Him your weakness, He shows His strength.

When you give Him your “not enough,” He creates overflow.

When you offer Him your mustard seed, He moves mountains.

So let me ask you—what’s in your hands?

It may not look like much. It may look like a field-spent musket or a jar of oil or a small lunch.

But in the hands of God, it can become the catalyst for revival, restoration, and revolution.

“When little becomes much in the hands of God, history is changed, battles are won, and freedom is born.”

2. The Widow’s Oil (2 Kings 4:1–7)

Context: Another widow, this time in debt. Her sons are about to be sold as slaves.

Her “Little”: A small jar of oil.

Prophetic Instruction: Borrow vessels “not a few,” and shut the door.

Miracle: The oil multiplies until every vessel is full.

Setting & Societal Context: The widow had no man to advocate for her—just a prophet and a word from God.

Spiritual Lesson: The miracle only stopped when the capacity ended. The more room you make for God, the more He fills.

5. The Widow’s Mite (Mark 12:41–44)

Context: At the temple treasury, many gave large gifts. A widow gave two small coins.

Her “Little”: All she had.

Jesus’ Response: He honored her above all.

Cultural Insight: The temple system often favored the wealthy and powerful, but Jesus valued sacrifice over size.

Application: God sees what man misses. It’s not about the size of the gift, but the size of the sacrifice.

Closing Exhortation: Bring Your Little

Maybe today you feel like:

You’ve only got a little strength left.

You’re barely hanging on spiritually.

What’s in your hand feels insignificant.

But God says, “Give it to me.”

Let the oil flow. Offer the loaf. Bring the mite.

Because when little is placed in the hands of a big God—it always becomes much.

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think…” (Ephesians 3:20)

This widow wasn’t a sovereign with resources—she was a humble foreigner with faith and a last meal. Her story reminds us:

God specializes in taking our little—our brokenness, our poverty, our “not enough”—and transforming it into abundance.