By Odon Bulamba
It’s a great day to be here and I thank God because to see another day, a new day like today is a privilege.
Open our Bibles to II Kings 4:1-3
The wife of a prophet cried to Elisha, “My
husband is dead, his creditor is coming to take my two sons as slaves”. Elisha replied, “How can I help you? What do
you have in your house?” She said, “Nothing
but a bit of oil”. Elisha said, “Go
around and ask your neighbours for empty jars and don’t ask for just a few”.
How often have you come across trouble or
problems or challenges of losing something special in your life? This lady was married to a man and this man
was not a simple man but a servant of God, one of the students who used to go
to the school of prophets. He had his family,
his wife and two sons. He was a provider
of his family day after and day and worked hard to feed and look after his
family. His children were calling him
dad and his wife calling him husband. They
were happy but then suddenly death came and took him from the family.
In your life, you may have come across
something like your job, friends, peace, or happiness and maybe something takes
it from you without your permission or warning or without consultation. This lady didn’t know what to do. As a result, she went to see Elisha and as
she presented herself in front of the man of God, she cried out to him, “Your
servant my husband is dead and you know that he served the Lord”.
Regardless of who you are, a servant of God
or not, death doesn’t care. You may have
plans to say that next year I will go somewhere with my family but death
doesn’t care about your plans. You might
think this is what I will achieve when I reach 70 years but death doesn’t care
about your projections. Death doesn’t
care whether you are beautiful, short or tall or your age group. When death comes, it will take you.
Here the story isn’t about death but those
that were left behind, his wife and children who are now in trouble. The creditor came and said, “Your husband
owes me something”. Regardless of being
a Christian or a friend or that passed away, I lent him something and I am
asking for this back, what is owed to me.
At a time when she is mourning, the creditor asks for it back and then
he said he will take the two boys as slaves.
Who is that mother who will accept to give
away two children as slaves? Who is that
mother after living in joy with her husband and then suddenly after her husband
is taken will be happy to also have her two children taken from her? This is pain upon pain. She was forced to bring this to Elisha. My problem is bigger than me, do
something. Imagine if you were that
lady, how will you react? I’ve seen
people going to the hospital for mental help because the problems of life is
too much.
Elisha
knew also what it was like because Elijah was taken from him. He asked, “How can I help you?” Elisha didn’t replace the man that was taken
away but asked, how can I help you? If Jesus
asked you know, how can I help you, what will be your answer? Some might say money, joy, Kingdom of God. Different answers because we have different
needs.
Elisha asked what do you have in your
house? The husband had been taken away, maybe there was nothing in the house, maybe
the house was empty with only her two sons and then someone is after her
children. Possibly, everything was
already sold to pay the creditors. Maybe she already lost everything. We must remember that very often God doesn’t
care about what we have lost but He care about what we have, what remains in
our life. E.g. Moses, what do you have? A
staff. I’ll use that. A child with two
fish and bread, what do you have? Jesus feed thousands of people. What you have regardless of quantity, God may
use it for a miracle. The small breath
that you take each morning which is free, God can use that.
My mum once asked me what is the most
important thing in your life to become? I said a bank manager. I thought was the best. “My son, I’m sorry, you have missed the
point. Why do you love banks more than
life?” I tried to justify myself because
with banks I can have money. Without
life, will you enjoy your bank? Life is
the most important thing.
Even if you lose your feet, praise God if
you are alive. Lose your sight, if you
are alive, praise God. if you look
around you and you see someone has done something bad in your life, then you
will miss the point. The most important
thing is life.
On the first day of creation, the entire
world was formless and void (empty). Is emptiness
important? Yes, very important because
then God can fill it up. If you tell God
you are fill and have no space to add into my life, then you will miss out. God looked at the world and it was empty and He
started to add a few things here and there.
When you feel empty in your life, that is the time that God wants to
fill you up, get ready.
In this story in the Bible, she said, I
just have a bit of oil. He told her to
ask neighbours for empty jars. God is
asking for empty vessels. Not half or ¼
filled but completely empty vessels that is what you need to borrow. This lady has lost everything and creditors
are coming to collect something from her and she doesn’t have it and she is
supposed to give away her children and Elisha is telling her to ask her neighbours
to borrow for empty jars.
In New Zealand we talk about bad
credit. If you borrow money and you
can’t afford to pay, you know that no one will lend more to you. Elisha told her to borrow vessels from her
neighbours. I am sure the entire village
knew that she had no means to pay back what she is going to borrow. They will think twice, will she give it back,
she has nothing. Poor lady, she was in
front of a broken bridge where she is being told to jump.
In my country, we say, if your feet are in
the river, don’t mock the crocodile because at any second he will catch you
even if you are clever like a monkey. One
time the monkey wanted to cross the river.
On top of the tree, he couldn’t see how he could cross because he was
not a good swimmer. The crocodile was
coming and his wife was sick. The witch
doctor said the only remedy for your wife is the heart of a monkey.
The monkey greeted the crocodile. The monkey asked to cross the river. The crocodile said, jump on my back. At the middle of the river, he said, your
heart is needed for my wife. The monkey
told the crocodile, you should tell me earlier before we left because I always
hang my heart in the tree. You should
tell me so I could collect it before we start our journey. You made a mistake, take me back there and
I’ll give you my heart. The crocodile
took him back. The monkey jumped on the tree
and said, you are stupid, have you seen an animal leave their heart on the
tree. The crocodile waited until the
monkey had to go back to the river for water.
We use this example in our country,
sometimes humans try to avoid God, avoid the truth by giving justifications and
we try to follow others because they are our friends and we put aside the will
of our God. Here Elisha is like a
protector, the last person who can intervene in this person’s life. “Go and borrow empty vessels”.
Are you empty yourself for God to act in
your life? God made the body of Adam and
it was empty until he touched it, breathed into and then it was filled up and
then Adam could move. If you have
something empty in your life, ask God to fill you with His spirit and breathe in
you so you can start a new life. It’s
not too late. Do you have God in your life? The little oil that you have, is faith and it
can make jars and jars to be filled up.
This poor girl sent her children to the neighbours. With faith she accepted regardless of challenges
and what people will say to go and ask for jars. Maybe the sons said, “Mummy sent me to borrow
two of your jars”. “What for?” “I don’t know”. “Can you tell her they are fill”. “She asked me to give her empty ones” “When
will she give them back?” “I don’t know”. I wouldn’t have given the jars.
Sometimes you can go to your neighbours for
a solutions but people have to question you first, even in the church, before
to pray for you, “Tell me your problems”.
Pastor, you are not supposed to know everybody’s problems before to
pray, God knows the family, God bless them.
In Africa, in Ghana this man will give you
the power of healing and miracles. If
you need $20,000, this man will get it for you.
The man will suck your blood and tell you to take your casket home, take
off all your clothes, pick up the casket and put on your head and walk around
your street and come back home. Once
home put it down, go to sleep, the next morning it will be filled with money. Hundreds of people, pastors, apostles will
come to this evil man to have this power to perform miracles.
Have you ever walked into a church and your
body starts to shake without reason, you feel a strange power penetrating your
skin and you see people falling like trees without roots. I’ve seen that man step into a church and
everyone started crying without saying a word.
There people were giving everything, even their houses to that man. That
man will ask people, how can I help you?
Are you the one going to help or our Lord? Many servants of God today have become like
small Jesus’. They put themselves at
that standard of acting like God which is a mistake
This lady collected several vessels. Elisha said, that small oil you have pour
into those vessels. You need faith for that.
Imagine you have 10 mls of oil and you have 20 vessels of 2L each. You will think it is impossible, I can’t do
this. You need sometimes to put your
faith in fire, to accept what is impossible to get what God is giving to you.
Nothing is impossible for God. You are only a vessel that God is using.
Once you follow the rules and steps that God
is giving you, you will save not only yourself but your children too. Have you been in a situation where your child
is between death and life and you are the only person who can save their life? It is not easy when you see that your child
going astray, and you feel pain in your heart.
I once jumped in water and I didn’t know how to swim to save a child of mine. I must do this, if I don’t do this, no one
will do it for me.
I was in a refugee camp where we had a
river in a desert. Once a year it will
rain and water with pressure will go through that river. Nadege was only 1 and suddenly erosion took
the land with my daughter in the water.
I had no time to think or shout for help. Water was taking her. I started to run across the and she going up
and down in water and I jumped in. Miraculously
I saved my daughter.
Your behaviour can kill your children. Your neighbour or pastor, or friend can kill
the life of others. We must stand up and
say, “God, I have faith in you, save my people”.
God sent his son to die for us. Have you sent your mind, body and spirit to
save others? Nothing is more precious
than children in your life. We have seen
women in the Bible crying because they need children. They are precious. My mum is old now but when she sees me, she
feels happy. She is proud of having a
child.
When your children are in trouble, please
don’t say I won’t do anything, protect them first. At the age of 7, I had a chicken. One time I tried to pick up the chick from
the mother and mother who knew me well didn’t allow me to pick it up. She was running after me, she was scratching
me, screaming at me for more than 4 minutes and then my mum came out to
intervene.
How tough are you in order to protect your
own children? Would you accept to
fight? You should. That fight is not only physical but on your
knees, pray for them. Take time to read
the Word of God with them. Go out with
them, enjoy being with them.
Sometimes I sit in my home and I look at Nadege,
she used to be very close to me but now with technology, she has no time for me
at all. We live in the same house and we
can spend all day without seeing her. I
can go to her room, go away, I’m busy. She can stay sometimes up until 3 or 4am
talking to people. I go back to my room
and ask God why he allows this, she has no time for me.
I will try to organise something special
for you, I have a gift for you, “not now”.
Now she is telling me I must go to America. What for?
That’s where I want to go. What
about us? She says, “God will look after
you”. You want to be with her to spend
at least 5 minutes with her, but she will say, “I have no time”. When they are young and they are listening to
you, use that opportunity because it will reach a time when they will say, “bye
bye our time with you is over”. You will
feel that love dying inside your heart.
Lebon will come home only when he needs
something, “I’m hungry, anything to eat,” and after eating, he will
vanish. No time to ask how you are. He was well educated and knew the Bible but
now that’s him. God gives to us things
and we must use them during the right time, if you wait too much you won’t
achieve anything. My job today is to
pray for my children from God to bring them back to me and God.
They love God but they don’t know how to
live in a good relationship with their parents.
They assume that we are old fashioned but when it’s time for money, they
are good friends. It’s painful. Like our creditors, they are coming just to
take something from us in order to make us empty and that is the best time to
tell God fill me now.
When God created Adam, He said, “We will
create something that looks like us,” and that was a man. It’s time to ask God, am I really an image of
you God? God himself did not come from
the dust but when he breathed into this body, He said we were something similar
to God. Our prayer must be, “Let my
image be like you Jesus, let my family reflect Jesus”. Things that look alike gather together. Those that look like God will enter the Kingdom
of God. If you don’t reflect Jesus, then
you won’t enter God’s Kingdom.
