Tie A Knot and Hold On

I would like to Reverence our Lord and Honor the Shepherd of this house and the Shepherd of Mt. Oliver

Pastor WO Smith

2 Kings 4: 1-7 I would like to use for a Topic: Tie a knot and hold on

Do you every feel trapped? Have you ever felt like you were at the end of your rope? What do

you do when you reach that point? The realist would say, “Just tie a knot and hang on.” The

pessimist would say, “You might as well let go; it’s only going to get worse.” The optimist

might say, “Just tie another knot and keep on climbing.” Each of those has its merits but, in

reality, what can you do?

I don’t think anyone but the Lord has the answers to all those questions. Yet, there may be

some help in the verses we have read today. This passage tells us about a poor, widow

woman who was at the end of her rope. She did not know what to do or where to turn. In her

pain and her poverty she did the only thing that she knew she could do: she turned to the Lord.

When she did that, God came through for her in a very big way!

This passage teaches us the glorious truth that God has a plan for our problem. These

verses show us that just as God took care of this widow, He will take care of you. This passage

lets us know that when we reach the end of our rope, there is help and there is hope. I want

to take these verses and share a few lessons that should be of comfort When You Reach The

End Of Your Rope.

I. V. 1 GOD KNOWS OUR PROBLEMS

A. There Was Despair In Her Family – The word “cried” means “to moan; to weep

uncontrollably; to shriek out of grief.” This word identifies the sound of a broken heart. This

woman comes to the man of God at the lowest moment of her life. She is in desperate straits! /

(Ill. Have you ever been there?)

B. There Was Death In Her Family – She was married to one of the “sons of the prophets”.

These were the men who were in training under Elisha to be the prophets and preachers in

Israel. Her husband, her lover, her friend, her provider, her protector, had been taken away from

here in death. She is broken because a loved one has been taken away. (Ill. Have you ever been

there?)

C. There Was Debt In Her Family – Since her husband is dead she cannot pay her bills. As a result, her creditors are coming to take her sons away as slaves so they can work off the debt. This was allowed under the Jewish Law, Lev. 25:39. She has been deprived of her husband, now she is about to lose her sons as well. She is over her head in debt and she doesn’t see how she can make it. (Ill. Have you ever been there?)

D. There Was Devotion In Her Family – In spite of all her problems, she is still held firm in the

grip of faith! She needs help, but she does not turn to her family or her friends. She does not try

to find someone to loan her more money. In her desperation she turns to the man of God for

help. Elisha was God’s representative on earth and he was her best hope. She reminds Elisha

that her husband “did fear the Lord.”

Her life has been a life of devotion to the Lord and in her trouble, she still trusts Him and

turns to Him for the things she needs! In spite of her pain, her problems and her lack of

possibilities, she still looked up to God for the help she needed! Even though she couldn’t see a

way out, she knew that she couldn’t see everything. Even though she didn’t understand

everything she was facing, she still believed that God cared and that He could do something

about her situation, so she cried out to Him in faith!

(Note: There are some lessons in this verse that we do not want to miss today.

· At some point, every person in this room is going to arrive at that low point of life. There

will come a day when you will reach the end of your rope. Some have already been through it

and can testify about it. Others are there right now and are looking for some help. Others will

arrive there someday. We will all have our days of trouble and trial, Job 14:1; John 16:33.

· When you reach that point, the world, the flesh and the devil are all going to tell you that

God doesn’t see and that He doesn’t care. The fact is, He does see, Pro. 15:3; 2 Chr. 16:9. He

sees everything you are facing. Not a single thing is hidden from His view. And, He does care,

Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 5:7. He cares more than you know about what you are facing.

· These verses are designed to teach us that our problems, while they may appear to be

insurmountable in our eyes, are really just God’s opportunities in disguise. Therefore, no

matter what you are called on to face in this life, learn to turn to the Lord first for the help you

need. He cares! He is able! He will work in your need!)

II. v. 2-4 GOD RELEASES OUR POTENTIAL

(Ill. It would have been easy for Elisha to have said, “Okay sister, you have suffered enough.

The Lord is going to meet your need. Just go home and wait for Him to work.” Instead of taking

that course, the Lord chose to involve this widow in her own miracle. First God erased her faith

by forcing her to admit what she didn’t have. Then, God expanded her faith by teaching her

trust, humility and obedience. He does the very same things in your life and mine!)

A. v. 2a How God Erases Our Faith – The Lord erased the widow’s faith through two questions

asked by Elisha. 1.) What do you need? 2.) What do you have? By those two questions, this

woman was made to see the size of her need and the smallness of her own resources. She

needed everything and she had very little. She needed much, but she could not possibly meet

her own needs.

Often God will use the trials, heartaches and burdens of life to bring us to the place

where we can honestly see our need and our own inability to meet it. Think about it, as long as

we think we can handle things, why should we look to the Lord? If we have all the answers,

why should we turn to Him with our questions?

But, when we stop and honestly answer those two questions, we will realize that we

need more than we will ever be able to supply by ourselves. God does this to erase our faith.

He isn’t trying to erase our faith in Him; He is trying to erase our faith in ourselves. As long as

we think we can, He won’t!

(Ill. This is clearly seen in the battle over little Ai, Josh. 7. Israel had just come off a great

victory at Jericho and they were feeling confident in their own abilities. They failed to look to

the Lord for the help they needed and a little village that should have been an easy victory

turned into a humiliating defeat. When Israel got their priorities in order and put God first, they

were allowed to enjoy the victory, Josh. 8.)

B. v. 2b-5 How God Expands Our Faith – After God erased her faith in herself and her own

abilities, He began the process of expanding her faith in the power of the Lord to meet her

need. Again, He does the same thing in your life and mine.)

1. v. 2b He Expands Our Faith Personally – Elisha’s second question: “What hast thou in the

house?” was designed to teach this widow that it may not have looked like she had much, but

in reality, she already had everything she needed to obtain what she wanted. She couldn’t see

it, but God had already given her the very thing He would use to meet her need.

Her answer to Elisha is to tell him that all she has is “a pot of oil”. The word “pot” refers to

“a flask”. This oil was probably a small amount of anointing oil, used by the prophets to anoint

the men of God. This little flask of oil had sat in the house unused since her husband died.

That little, insignificant flask of oil would be the answer to her prayers.

What we fail to realize is that God has already given us everything we need to get our need

met. That widow said that the only thing of value she had was a pot of oil. Yet, you have I have

so much more than a mere pot of oil!

Think about it! If you are saved, you are a child of God! He has promised to hear you

prayers, Jer. 33:3. He has promised to answer your prayers, Matt. 7:7-11. He has promised to

meet all your needs, Phil. 4:19; Matt. 6:25-34.

We look at our problems and they look so large. We look at our possessions and they seem

so small. Yet, we always fail to factor God into the equation! So, He places us in situations

where our faith in Him must be expanded!

2. v. 3 He Expands Our Faith Publically – The widow is told to go to all her neighbors and

borrow all the empty vessels that she can get her hands on. That is a strange command! How

do you suppose she explained this to her neighbors? Did she say, “That crazy preacher told

me to do this”? Did she say, “Don’t ask me why, but I want to borrow some empty jars, pots and

pans”? Did she say, “I am flat broke, but God is about to meet my need! I don’t know how He is

going to do it, but the man of God said go borrow some pots. I don’t understand it, but I know

God is going to make a way.” It may have been that God used her to speak to her neighbors!

They might have thought she had lost her mind as she went door to door collecting those

vessels. But, what a witness it would have been when the Lord met her need! God used her as

a living, breathing sermon to her neighbors.

He does the same thing in your life and mine! We talk about how we love the Lord and its

just words until the Lord sends us into the valleys of life. When we are there, and He comes

through for us in a big way, it speaks volumes to those who are watching us! You never know

who the Lord is using your life to speak to! Let Him have His way in you. You are a work in

progress! Your life is a billboard advertising the grace, blessing and power of God to a lost

world, Eph. 2:10; 2 Cor. 3:1-3.)

3. v. 4-5 He Expands Our Faith Privately – Faith moved in that widow’s heart. She obeyed the

Lord; she borrowed the vessels and she and her sons shut themselves up in the house and

trusted God to do what He had promised to do.

Can you imagine the scene in that little home that day? There is that mother with her sons

and all those empty vessels sitting all over that house. She picks up that flask of oil and one of

those boys says, “Mom, what are you doing with that oil? Why did you have us borrow all those

vessels from the neighbors?” And she says “Boys, I don’t have all the answers, but I believe the

Lord is about to do something great in our home. Your daddy didn’t leave us much, but he did

leave us this little flask of oil. The man of God said that we were to get us all the vessels we

could get. Boys, God is going to fill every one of these vessels out of this little flask.” With that,

they hand her the first vessel and she fills it up. She fills up one after the other and oil just

keeps pouring out of that little bottle until every vessel was filled.

When that day ended, there was a mother and some boys who had learned a valuable

lesson. There in the privacy of that home, they learned that God was all-powerful and able to

meet every need. The neighbors would hear what God had done, and they would know it on an

intellectual level. However, this family would know what God had done. It was a public miracle

that was done in the privacy of their hearts.

Again, when the Lord shuts us up in a place of total dependence, His people will see Him

come through for them time after time. This was Elijah’s experience, 1 Kings 17. This was

Daniel’s experience, Dan. 6. This was Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’s experience, Dan. 3.

This was the widow of Zarephath’s experience, 1 Kings 18. This was the experience of the

5,000 who were fed with the loaves and fishes, John 6. This was the experience of the

disciples on the stormy Sea of Galilee, Mark 6.

This is the experience of every child of God who is placed in a position of total trust and

dependence. When the Lord comes through for His people, the work He does might be widely

known, but the greatest work is in the heart of His child. When the Lord moves in power, the

child of God receives a lesson in faith that can never be taken away from them. Their faith is

expanded and they will never be the same again.

Ill. Paul – He went from “Who art thou Lord?” (Acts 9:5); to “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, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.

Amen.” (Eph. 3:20-21) What made the difference? Paul’s faith had been expanded on

numerous occasions by the trials of life and the power of God. That is what the Lord is up to in

your life and mine!

III. v. 5-7 GOD GIVES OUR PROVISION

(Ill. The woman and her sons filled one vessel after another until every vessel they had

borrowed was full. She began that day with nothing, she ended it with everything! That is what

our God can do.)

A. v. 5 The Lesson Of God’s Provision – One of the lessons we can learn from this episode is

that God will do exactly what He has promised to do. Elisha promised that the Lord would fill

the vessels, v. 4, and He did!

He will keep all of His promises to you too! Not a single word in a single promise will fall to

the ground unfulfilled! God will do everything He had promised to do. (Ill. Heb. 6:18; Matt. 5:18;

24:35; Psa. 138:2; John 10:35) He meant everything He said! He will do everything He has

promised.

B. v. 6 The Limit Of God’s Provision – The oil flowed until the vessels ran out. When the day

was done, every vessel was filled to the full. There was no limit on the amount of oil. The only

limit was on the amount of vessels. God’s provision knew no limits in the widow’s case and it

knows no limits in your case! God is able to meet every need, move every mountain, and solve

every problem. His provision is limited by nothing but our faith. God stands ready to give all

that you make room for in your life, no more and no less!

If we can trust Him to take care of us and if we can get our vessels under the flow of His

oil, there is nothing He can’t do, Eph. 3:20; Jer. 32:17; 27; Gen. 18:14.

(Ill. Two men went down to a lake one morning to do some trout fishing, and they stayed

there all day. But one man had a strange habit. Every time he would catch a trout he would pull

out a little ruler and measure it. If the trout measured larger than the ruler he would throw it

back. So strangely enough he kept all of the little trout that he caught, but he threw back all the

big ones.

Well his partner watched that all day long, and as they prepared to leave he looked at

him and said, “I can’t stand this any longer. I have never seen a man fish like you in my life.” He

said, “You’ve kept all of the small trout and thrown back all of the big ones.” The man said,

“Sure did.” He said, “Why did you do that?” The man said, “Because I only have an eight-inch

frying pan.”

Now think about that. Rather than get a bigger skillet, he was settling for smaller fish. I

believe so often God wants to give us twelve-inch blessings, but all we have is eight-inch

faith.)

C. v. 7 The Largeness Of God’s Provision – When the day was done, there was enough oil in

those borrowed vessels to settle her debts, meet her desires and supply her dependents!

God’s supply was far more than sufficient! That is the kind of ability our Father possesses. He

is able to do more than you can imagine, if you give Him the opportunity! Get your vessels to

Him and watch Him fill them all. What do you do when you are walking through a spiritual

wasteland and there seems to be no way out? And you come to the end of your rope and there

is a long drop

beneath you and you do not know what to do. I will tell you what to do you TIE A KNOT AND

HOLD ON

· What do you do when you are facing problems with your children that you cannot solve?

YOU TIE A KNOT AND HOLD ON

· What do you do when your marriage is on the rocks and the crashing waves of hopelessness are unrelenting?

YOU TIE A KNOT AND HOLD ON

·

What do you do when there are problems at work and it seems that there is no way out?

YOU TIE A KNOT AND HOLD ON

·

What do you do when you have too much month left at the end of your money?

YOU TIE A KNOT AND HOLD ON

·

What do you do when you have followed a loved one’s body to the graveyard and you cannot

escape the loneliness, the grief and the pain?

YOU TIE A KNOT AND HOLD ON

· What do you do when your heart is broken, your dreams are shattered and your hopes have been dashed to bits on the cruel rocks of reality?

YOU TIE A ROCK AND HOLD ON

What do you do when you are walking through a spiritual wasteland and there seems to be no way out?

YOU TIE A KNOT AND HOLD ON