James MacDonald - When You Don't Know What to Do
Summary:
From the story of the widow in 2 Kings 4 whose small jar of oil miraculously multiplied to pay her debts, the preacher teaches that in times of desperate need, God works through what we already have, requiring our active participation in faith rather than passive waiting. He illustrates this biblical pattern—from David’s sling to the boy’s lunch feeding the 5,000—emphasizing that miracles often involve us doing something with the resources or steps God has already given us. The encouraging conclusion is that God fills only the empty vessels we continually offer Him in trust, urging believers to keep holding up their greatest needs in persistent prayer without giving up hope.
The Widow’s Desperate Situation
«Tell me, » he says. «What do you have in the house?» Now, I’m fairly sarcastic, so I’m thinking, «Which part of bankruptcy don’t you understand?» But she’s more gracious, so she says, «Your servant has nothing in this house except a jar of oil.» Now, that’s not 10W30 or something, all right? That’s like either some perfume or maybe something used in cooking, but it had value. They didn’t have dollars and cents; it had some monetary value. «This jar of oil is all I’ve got; it’s worth a little bit; it’s not worth much.»
God Uses What You Already Have
Now, here’s the point I want to make here: jot down this second thing. We all face times of desperate need. God needs only what you have. Because in a minute here—don’t read ahead—in a minute here, the miracle is going to come from what she already had. I just gotta tell you, that’s really cool. And I’ve got to believe there’s somebody here today; you came to church, and you don’t know what to do. Maybe you’re up on that North Campus right now, and we’re not even in the same room. It doesn’t matter where I am; it just matters where you are, and God knows where you are. You are meant to hear this, and you do not know what to do.
I want to speak this into your life: the miracle is going to involve something you already have—maybe a resource, maybe an insight, maybe an action you can take—that God is not going to simply draw down and take care of all. You’re going to have to do something. Turn to your neighbor and say, «You’re going to have to do something.» All right, you listening? You’re going to have to do something. It’s not all going to just fall from Heaven for you, and this lady’s going to have to do something. He says, «You need God to help you. You’re in a bad place; your husband’s died. What do you have?» «I only have this jar of oil.» He’s like, «Well, bring that. Bring what you have. You’re going to be involved in this miracle.»
Biblical Examples of Participation
Now, if you’re thinking to yourself that that seems like a small point in the text, then that should be confirmed in other places in Scripture. What are some other places in Scripture where God did the miracle, but He did it involving what the person already had? Can anybody think of a passage? How about in the Old Testament? Where did that happen? Okay, the blind man—the guy who has to go dip himself in the river—he had to do something. I’m not going to give you a survey of the whole Bible here this morning in the time that we have, but just trust me, you go look at a miracle; almost in every instance, they had to do something. In the Old Testament, we talked about David already. David had to take that slingshot. How many stones did he pick up? How many did it take to kill the giant? All right, so he picks up this and he goes. But David, why didn’t God just send a thunderbolt from Heaven and incinerate Goliath? How many people believe God could have done that? But somehow, David had to have the faith to pick up some stones and step toward that giant and say, «Who is this heathen to defy the armies of the Living God?»
He had to exercise his faith. Y’all gotta do something, man! I get tired of people who say, «I need a miracle; I need a miracle.» Do something! «I need a miracle; I need a miracle.» Tell them, «Well, I’ll be the guy, and then you give the answer. I need a miracle; I need a miracle.» «Do something! I’ve got some of the most beautiful young women in our church, single gals, and I find myself thinking, 'Boy, she’s just beautiful and she loves the Lord. Why is she not married? ' Then I find out she doesn’t have a phone number. She lives in her mom’s basement. She’s just down there, 'Send him down here, God! ' He’s not coming down in the basement, girl! You’ve got to at least go outside! Right? Am I telling the truth?»
So, you’ve got to do something. Some of you here, you’re praying for a miracle. Part of your praying should be, «What do you want me to do, God?»
The Boy with the Lunch
I know we all face times of desperate need. God needs what you have. A New Testament example of that same principle is the little boy with the lunch. Remember that story? Jesus was preaching a little overtime, which I’m going to try not to do in this service. He was going along, so the disciples come to Jesus, and you remember they said to Jesus, «Lord, the people are hungry; wrap it up!» I wouldn’t have wanted to give that message; I’d be like, «You tell them! The people are hungry!»
Now, Jesus’ response was pretty incredible. He says to the disciples, «Well, go ask the people if they have any food.» Now, I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, okay, but I’m thinking, «If they had food, they would not be—help me—hungry!» But they didn’t say that. I’m not going to tell them that. So, how many people were there? There were like 5,000 men, right? So, 5,000 men plus all the women and children. Now, the disciples have to go around to every one of them. I’ll be the disciples; you be the crowd. Ready? «Got any food? Got any food? Got any food?» 4,999 times they asked that, and one kid’s like, and he holds up his little bag, you know, his little lunch with the five loaves and the two fishes. And so the disciples think, «This has been a big waste of time.» So they come storming back to Jesus. «We got your survey right here. Yeah, we just spent how many hours? How long would it take 12 people to talk to 5,000 people? Long time! They’re hungrier now than they were before! And here’s what we got!»
And Jesus’ response was perfect. Now, how many people believe that Jesus could have just—? We know He could have rained down manna from Heaven. He could have just filled their stomachs supernaturally. He could have done it a lot of ways, but they had to go around doing all that work. They had to get the lunch, break it up, and hand it out to people. I’m telling you, this is the way it is: Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Right here today, some of you are praying for a miracle, wondering why it’s not coming. «I need a miracle; I need a miracle.» Do something! Do something!
God Does What We Can’t
All right, you’re like, «Well, okay, but it’s complicated.» James, you said this was a «when I don’t know what to do» message. Well, here’s the third thing, and this is the good news that follows that: we all face times of desperate need. God needs only what we have. God does only what we can’t.
Okay, so she goes. Let me just read it from the text. She goes, and she has to go door to door, doing something. Elisha said to her, «What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?» «Just this jar of oil.» He said, «Go outside; borrow vessels from all your neighbors—empty vessels, not too few.» It’s funny how it says that. So if she wasn’t to get too few, how many was she to get? Again, not an easy job going door to door to your neighbors, knocking on the door. «Hi, yeah, I’m from… and I need to borrow some jars.» First question they’re going to ask when I come to your house: «How many?» Second question: «What for?» In both instances: «How many do you need?» «Uh, I don’t know; as many as you have.» «Oh, okay, okay, no problem. What are you going to use them for?» «Uh, I have no idea.» Last question, last question: «It’s all good, it’s all good; I know you. I heard about your husband. I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! And I know! I know! When are you going to bring him back?» «Yeah, I also do not know that! I doubt you’ll see him again in this lifetime.»
And not one house, because she was told to get what—? Not too few! So she’s going door to door with her survey, same as with the boy with the lunch. «Got any jars? Got any jars? Got any jars?» She brings all the jars back. I guess the point in all of that is to say this again: God needs only what we have. God does only what we can’t. «I need a miracle; I need a miracle.» Ready for the God part now, everybody? Ready for the God part? Here it is!
The Miracle Unfolds
So she went from him, then in verse 4: «Shut the door behind yourself and your sons; pour into all the vessels, and when one is full, set it aside.» So she went from him, shut the door behind herself and her sons, and as she poured, they brought the vessels to her. That was messy, right? That wasn’t easy. I would have preferred if God had just filled a big vat full of oil in her backyard. If God had just been like, «Bam! Check out that oil thing!» How many people would say that’d be a cooler miracle? Because I could stand back like, «That’s my God right there! Check out my big swimming pool full of oil out of nowhere! Awesome! God, my God!»
Why’d she have to go get all the jars? Why’d she have to make a mess in the living room and keep pouring all the time? And the funnel was getting dirty, and my sons were bringing me jars, and we spilled some! «Once you get your head out of the clouds, all right, come into an awesome place like this, and you think God just was like, 'Bam! Prestonwood! ' Is that how it happened? That’s not how it happened! There was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears! There was a lot of working and praying and giving and preaching and sharing. It’s just not easy! People are like, 'Oh, that’s an awesome church you have in Chicago! I gave up my hair for that church! '
Nothing comes without work! You’ve got to stop looking across the meadow and thinking, 'Man, everything’s so easy at their house! ' You should get to know them better! It’s a lot of work! You do what you can; you do what you have; you bring what you have; then the miracle comes.
So she went from him, verse 5, shut the door behind herself and her sons, and as she poured, they brought the vessels to her. Imagine her; she was like, „Huh, still there! Still there!“ God was actually taking what she had and supernaturally making it go further. It was not so much the provision of something that didn’t exist as it was the extension of something beyond. Maybe the miracle God’s given to you is allowing you to persevere for another day. Maybe God’s taking the strength that you have and making it last a lot longer than it should. Maybe God’s allowing you to persevere in that marriage or in that job or with that family member or in that financial crisis. „I’m still here!“ Maybe that’s the miracle—you’re still going. God’s making it last and keeping you on. „Bring me another vessel, “ and he said to her, „Mom, there’s not another vessel.“ Then the oil stopped flowing.
God Fills What We Offer
Here’s the last thing: God fills only what we offer. How many people believe if she had gotten another jar, God would have filled that too? Put up your hand if you believe that. What if she had gone to like five more? What if she had gone to ten more houses and got ten more jars? Would God have filled those? What if she had gotten 50 more? See, Alexander MacLaren, a great Bible commentator from a previous generation, said this: „God keeps giving Himself as long as we keep bringing that into which God can pour Himself. When we stop bringing, God stops pouring.“
And some of you are here today, and the story of your spiritual experience is, „I haven’t seen God doing very much lately, and things have mostly been hard for a while now.“ Let me ask you: what empty places have you been holding up to God? Maybe there was a time in your life when you were praying so much for your son to be saved; you were praying so hard for that ministry thing to go better; you were praying so hard for that business to grow or that need to be met. And after a while, you say, „I’m not seeing it. I don’t think God’s going to do that. I think I’m just going to stop praying. I’m going to stop caring. My marriage is always going to be like this; my sister’s never going to get saved; that’s just not in the cards for me.“
We’re not playing cards here, all right? This is a God thing, and your thing is to keep praying and keep trusting and believing. Psalm 25:3 says, „No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame.“ You’ve just got to stay after it; you’ve just got to keep going; you’ve just got to keep holding up empty places to God. You say, „Well, James, it hurts to keep… it’s stretching; it’s difficult to keep opening up empty places to God.“ I get that. Sometimes we close our hands and don’t offer our marriage or our children or our greatest need; we don’t offer that to God anymore because it just hurts to keep asking Him and not see it yet. It’s easier to close up my heart and say, „Well, that’s not going to happen for us.“
But I would just challenge you today to do—like this widow did—get it all back on God! „I’ll do what I can; I’ll bring what I have; but I’m going to get back into partnership with God, trusting Him to fill what I’m offering to Him.“ Whatever that need is.
Closing Prayer and Invitation
In fact, I want to just ask you to not move or even close your Bible; just quietly bow your head in prayer. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, now it’s more just like me and you are talking. Let me ask the most obvious question, which is this: what is that greatest need in your life? I could probe a thousand things, but I really don’t believe you need me to help you figure that out. Do you know what is the thing about which you long most to see God do, and it hurts most to wait for Him to do it?
Let me ask you honestly: have you closed your heart off to that? Have you stopped trusting God for that, asking Him to do it, believing Him for it, waiting on Him? Have you stopped? Would you start again? If you have not stopped, would you recommit yourself to this and nothing else? „I am not going to let go of this till I have it, God! I’m doing what I can, and I’m waiting on you, and I know this is your highest and best. This is what you desire, God, and I’m not letting go of it.“
In fact, let me just encourage you, if you have faith—if you have faith to do this—let me encourage you to just kind of cup your hands like this in your lap right now. Just do that yourself; don’t worry about anybody else. That cupping of your hands, you know what that represents? That’s your empty vessel: „This isn’t yet in my life, God! This isn’t yet in my family, God! It’s not there right now! This is my empty vessel!“ Now you hold that up to God right now in your heart. Just hold it up to Him: „Fill this, God! I’m like that widow. Now, if you don’t come fill this, it’s not going to happen! God, I’ve done what I can, but I’m trusting you.“
Now, Father, I pray for every person right now holding their life up to you, holding their family up to you, holding this situation, whatever it is, up to you. God, you know what it is, and I pray that today would always resonate in their hearts as the day that they recommitted themselves to pray, and trust, and wait, and believe that wonderful promise: no one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame. I’m going to see it, God! I’m going to see it, and I’m trusting you for it.»