Today’s Scripture
2 Kings 4:2Reflection
The widow didn't simply say she had oil. She described a small amount. Just a little oil.
That word “just” can reveal a lot about how we see ourselves and what God has given us. I'm just a mom. I just know how to cook. I just worked in that industry for twenty years. It's just an idea. I just have a few contacts. I'm just good at organizing things. I just have a small business. I just have a little time.
We can become so accustomed to our abilities that we no longer recognize them as valuable. Something may be easy for you precisely because you've spent years learning it. Something you consider ordinary may solve a problem someone else has.
We can also compare our beginning with somebody else's development and decide ours doesn't count. But the widow didn't need somebody else's oil. She needed to recognize hers.
This connects deeply with fruitfulness. A seed doesn't look like the harvest it can eventually produce. If we judge everything only by its current size, we may discard things that were designed to grow.
What Do You Believe?
Do you believe that small does not mean insignificant?
Faith doesn't require you to exaggerate what you have. Call it what it is. A little oil. A small skill. A beginning. A seed. Then ask God what it could become.
For Your House
Listen for the word “just” today. What do you repeatedly minimize about yourself, your experiences, your household, or your abilities?
Ask yourself: Why have I decided this doesn't matter?
One Step Today
Take one item from yesterday's inventory that you have tended to minimize.
Write: “I have ____________, and I am willing to let God show me what I can do with it.”
Prayer
Lord, forgive me for the times I have dismissed what You have placed in my life because it looked too small. Give me eyes to recognize seeds before they become harvests. Teach me to value what You have entrusted to me without exaggerating it or minimizing it. Show me what I can cultivate. Amen.