One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.” “What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” “Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied. And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.” So, she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim! “Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons. “There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing. When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.” (2 Kings 4:1-11, NLT)
This story is a favorite Bible story of mine. It reminds me of the value of believing in your goals and dreams, developing a plan, and properly executing that plan. Unfortunately, many dreams and goals that come into existence remain in an embryonic state and eventually results in miscarriage. However, as I took a fresh look, I discovered three important principles that explain this failure of dreams and goals to result in fulfillment.
First, we often don’t always recognize that we may already have something to work with. We often look for inspiration outside of our sphere, and we look for complex ideas and solutions when we have something to use that is already in our possession. The problem is it seems too simple a solution. When the woman is asked in the story, “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” Her response is, “Nothing at all, except a flask of oil.” She failed to realize that the flax of oil that she possessed was something that could be used to solve her problem. Her response should’ve been, “Yes, I have a flask of oil.”
It is important to surround ourselves with people who have vision. The Prophet looked at her situation and saw her situation in a way that was strengths-based in its outlook. The woman saw things from the perspective of what she didn’t have. The prophet saw the same situation from the standpoint of what she did have. We need people around us who will look at us and our situation and see possibilities that we are unable to see. Those people are not always easy to find. You are more likely to find people who lack vision; people can identify all the problems and all the reasons why it will not work. When you find someone with vision, keep them close.
Second, we don’t always recognize the value of what we have. The woman possessed a flask of oil, which became central to her ability to raise the money needed to pay her creditors. However, she didn’t understand the value of what she had in her possession. Her response to the prophet makes it clear. She says, “[I have] nothing at all, except a flask of oil.” Sometimes the thing that we take for granted is the thing that someone else needs and the thing that could bring out goals and dreams to fruition.
You may not know the name of Gary Dahl, but perhaps you know the product he is known for: the pet rock. I was a child, and I watched the commercials thinking, “What a dumb idea.” While I was laughing at Mr. Dahl, he was laughing all the way to the bank. The pet rock was a fad, but it made Gary Dahl an overnight millionaire. He took something that everyone ignored and recognized the value in it. Now it’s a little more complex than that because his marketing was brilliant, but the thing to remember is to try and find value in the ideas, talents, skills, and possessions we have. One of those may be our metaphoric pet rock.
Third, we don’t always ambitiously plan so that as we execute, we capitalize on the use of what we have. The woman was given a plan, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors.” She executed that plan, and “Soon every container was filled.” She sold the oil, paid her debts, and had money to spare. But think about this, what if she had expanded her concept of who was a neighbor? What if it went outside of her community, to adjacent communities? Or what if she looked at the entire country as consisting of her neighbors. She might not receive empty jars from everyone, but she would’ve received more jars, sold more oil, paid her debts, and have even more money to spare. The only difference, she would’ve expanded her vision.
How often do we limit our plans based on what is reasonable and feasible? I don’t remember where I read this, but one author said something that still resonates with me. He said, “It takes just as much work to dream a big dream as it does to dream a little dream.” What do you lose in dreaming and trying to achieve a little dream? I would submit to you that even if you don’t attain that goal, there is a good chance that you are better off at the end of the endeavor than you were at the beginning. So why not aim higher? You have nothing to lose.
Make up your mind today that you will not allow your goals and dreams to go unfulfilled because of these three principles.
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