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Whose Hands?

David Sorn

Jun 22, 2025

2 Kings 4:1-7; 42-44

Whose hands have you put your life in? Yours? Or God’s? He can do so much with your life if you would only place more of it in His hands!

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPT

  1. LIBRARY / INTRODUCTION
    1. (Renovation Church)
    2. Good morning! My name is David Sorn, and I’m the Lead Pastor here at Renovation Church.
      1. Real quick before we started:
        1. One of the biggest blessings of our building expansion has been our library.
          1. We’ve just been, honestly, in awe of how much it has gotten used in the year or so since it has opened.
            1. And it’s amazing because when you’re reading Christian books, you’re getting discipled and growing closer to Jesus not just on Sunday mornings, or at your House Church, but all throughout the week!
              1. So we just LOVE that!
      2. So much so that we are continuing to expand the influence of our library!
        1. In fact, I’m happy to get to announce today that the Renovation Church Library will now be going digital….
          1. (Library slide)
            1. …as well through the Libby app
      3. This is amazing because now, in addition to checking out physical Christian books here, you’ll now be able to check out audio books and ebooks as well…at any time!
        1. I love this as a big audio book guy, or, I think of my wife, who reads even more books than I do, reads mostly on her phone nowadays.
          1. This gives you options!
      4. (Library QR slide)
        1. For simple instructions to access our church’s digital library, you can scan the QR code behind me, or go to our library page through our website or app to find instructions on how to do it.
          1. Or, if you’d like some in-person assistance, just stop by the library today, and they can help you out!
  2. INTRODUCTION TO MESSAGE
    1. (Series Slide)
    2. All right, let’s jump into our message.
      1. We are in week 4 of our Summer Series on the Life of Elisha the prophet.
    3. 2 Kings 4:1-7; 42-44
    4. Page 251-252
      1. Elisha ministered in about 850 BC
        1. And today, we’re going to see God use Elisha in a more personal way as we see God’s heart, not just for armies (like last week), but for widows as well.
    5. (2 Kings 4:1-7) – NIV
    6. The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
      2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
      “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”
      3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
      5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
      But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
      7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
      1. And then jump down all the way to verse 42, as we’re going to cover that short story today as well, and I’ll cover the big section we are jumping over next week.
    7. (2 Kings 4:42-44) – NIV
    8. 42 A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said.
      43 “How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked.
      But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” 44 Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.
      1. (Whose Hands?)
      2. Okay, so let’s start with the widow back in verse 1.
        1. This woman’s husband was in debt to someone, and now that the husband is dead, the woman and her children have no way to pay back his debts.
          1. And in those days, if you didn’t have the mean to pay back your debts, the only thing you could do was to essentially become slaves or servants of the person you owed money too.
            1. You couldn’t just declare bankruptcy.
      3. And so fearing greatly for her boys, this woman comes to Elisha for help.
  3. PRINCIPLE #1: FOCUS ON WHAT YOU HAVE, NOT WHAT YOU DON’T HAVE
    1. And Elisha is going to help her see the power of moving what she has into God’s Hands.
      1. In fact, that’s the main point of these two texts, and what I want us to focus our hearts on this morning.
    2. Let me give you the first principle of you taking what you have and moving it out of your hands and into God’s hands.
      1. How to Move What You Have into God’s Hands
      2. #1: Focus on what you have, not what you don’t have
    3. So look at the middle of verse 2.
      1. The woman says her sons are going to be taken into slavery and Elisha says:
      2. Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
        “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”
        1. Scholars think it was like a little flask.
        2. Now, olive oil was actually quite important in those days.
          1. It was a valuable commodity that was often used for lighting, cooking, medicine, cosmetics, and more.
    4. And that small jar is basically all she has left in her house. That’s it.
      1. And it’s really easy when you feel like you have nothing to just focus on everything you don’t have.
        1. Your bank account is basically empty.
        2. Maybe you can’t seem to get in a relationship
        3. Or you can’t seem to get a good job.
        4. Or…
          1. Maybe you just simply feel like you don’t have enough right now.
            1. You don’t have enough time, friends, energy, you name it.
      2. And God is saying, “Stop focusing on what you don’t have, and start looking at what you do have.”
        1. Even in the story at the end of the chapter…
          1. The guy says, “How is THIS bread going to feed a hundred men?”
            1. And yet, in God’s hands, it can!
      3. I read this thought experiment a couple of months ago, that really spoke to me.
        1. A woman posted something like this: She said, “It’s now the year 2065.
          1. And I am now 75 years old.
          2. But by some miraculous intervention, I woke up this morning, and I was 35 again, and I was way back in the year 2025.”
          3. And the first thing I saw was my old couch!
            1. “I used to hate that couch, but now when I see it, I just think of all of the great memories from that couch”
          4. And there’s my dog, Max.
            1. I used to yell at him all the time, but I haven’t seen Max in decades, so I ran right over and snuggle with him.
          5. And there’s my husband!
            1. He looks so young. He’s so handsome. How did I not see it like that before.
          6. And my children!
            1. Oh my.
              1. Back in 2025, they’re 5 & 3 again.
                1. Not 45 & 43, with me wishing they’d call once in a while.
              2. I just immediately scoop them up in my arms, and hug them.
              3. And then I get down on the floor and play with them, not wanting to miss a moment before this dream, or whatever it is, is over.
      4. But what if we lived like that every day? With that sort of look into our lives?
        1. Where we were actually focusing on what we do have.
          1. Instead of being so focused on what we don’t have or what we’re working towards.
    5. So what do you have?
      1. What are the blessings in your life?
      2. What are the talents and gifts God has given you?
      3. What are resources He has entrusted you with?
      4. What do you have?
  4. GIVE IT TO GOD, AND HE WILL MULTIPLY IT
    1. Well, this widow, she has a small jar of olive oil.
      1. But first Elisha says (in verse 3) before she starts pouring, she should go to all of her neighbors (in faith) and ask for empty jars.
        1. Then, when she has a lot, she should start pouring out that olive oil and “as each is filled, put it to one side?”
      2. You can almost imagine her saying, “As EACH is filled?! Elisha, my little jar of olive oil isn’t going to fill even one normal size jar from my neighbors!
    2. And she’s going to take what she has, give it to God, and trust that He will multiply it
      1. That’s the second principle here
      2. How to Move What You Have into God’s Hands
      3. #1: Focus on what you have, not what you don’t have
      4. #2: Give what you have to God, and watch Him multiply it
        1. So first we ask, “What do you have? What has God given you?”
        2. And secondly, what you do have, is it in your hands, or God’s hands?
          1. Who ultimately has control?
            1. What about your time? Your schedule?
              1. Whose hands are they in?
                1. Yours? Or God’s?
            2. What about your kids? Whose hands are they in?
            3. Or what about your talents? Your resources?
    3. I think for some of us, the reason we are not taking our gifts, talents, resources, and putting it into the hands of God is because we think what we have is too small.
      1. Some of you are saying, “What am I going to do for God?”
      2. You say, “I’m uneducated?”
      3. Or, you say, “I’m divorced”
      4. “I don’t feel like I’m good at anything”
      5. “I’ve messed up so many times already”
        1. But the Bible says, “When you are weak, that’s when He’s strong”
          1. In fact, most of the time God actually prefers to use the weak.
            1. Moses who couldn’t really speak, the small shepherd boy David became King, Esther was an orphan
              1. Because when God uses the weak, his glory shines through.
                1. He gets the credit.
      6. So don’t say, “All I have is this oil,” or, “All I have are these loaves of bread”
        1. Instead say, “God this is what I have, these are the things you’ve blessed me with…
          1. …and I trust that if I place those things in your hand, you can do amazing things.
    4. This passage brings up even the Biblical issue of stewardship, of giving our money and resources back to God.
      1. Or tithing, giving 10%
        1. I remember, when I became a Christian at 18, my friend Tim Larson, who still goes to this church, said, “David, you’re a Christian, you gotta tithe now.
          1. And I said, “I gotta what now?”
            1. But I could see it’s what God wanted me to do, so I started giving 10% of my checks for washing dishes back to God
              1. And God has always taken care of me.
                1. I’m putting what I have in His hands, not my own.
              2. And for some of you today is the day that you need to put even that part of your life, in God’s hands, not your own
    5. So what do you need to put into His hands?
      1. is it something in your family? Is it some part of personal life?
      2. Are you serving Him?
        1. Can you teach kids in renovation kids?
        2. Lead a small group at youth group? At your house church? Can you lead a house church?
          1. We’re exploding with growth everywhere…
            1. Over the past 6 months, we’ve averaged close to 30-40 first-time visitors…every week…EVERY WEEK!!
          2. And so almost once a week somebody asks me, “What is the hardest part about it?”
            1. And I always say, “Finding enough leaders to keep up with what God’s doing here”
        3. And so I’m always grieved by all the people (when asked to lead here) who say, “No, I can’t lead”
          1. Maybe you can’t, but He can!
            1. Put it in His hands.
          2. Leaders, we need you.
            1. Not because this is a dying church, and we need some people to step up and keep this afloat.
          3. Listen, there is near-revival happening in this city
            1. Historically, as far as I know, this is the most amount of people that have ever come to Christ in Blaine, MN in a 2 or 3-year period.
              1. God’s doing crazy things right here, in front of our faces!
                1. Some of you gotta go back to your leader and say, “I’ll lead that small group this Fall. I’ll lead that House Group, I’ll help with Youth”
          4. And if everybody keeps saying no to leadership opportunities because they just want to sit in a seat and hear Bible teaching, then I must not be teaching the Bible very well because that’s not what this says to do.
      3. I just beg you, stop saying, “I got too much going on, it’s not the right time, what I have is too small”
        1. This widow just had a jar of oil for goodness sakes.
          1. Almost nothing.
            1. But she gave it to God.
      4. Because God does amazing things (through YOU) when you take what you have and you put it in His hands.
        1. I think of Bonnie Vidlund from our church.
          1. Years ago, Bonnie had been simply telling God, “Lord, lead me to what You want me to do”
            1. That’s a good prayer.
              1. Too many of us pray like, “God, if there is an opportunity that won’t take me away from travel sports or my family, or come with any sort of difficulty, please provide that opportunity.”
                1. That’s not your life in His hands, that’s your life in your hands.
        2. So Bonnie prayed this prayer (“Lord, lead me to what You want me to do”), and the Lord began to open her heart to the hurting & alone on the streets.
          1. And when she saw one particular homeless man on the street, and she just simply said, “God, he’s cold, he needs a blanket.”
          2. And the Lord said to her, “Make a blanket, and put my Word on it, as large as possible. Then, with prayer, give it to them, and let them know how much I love them.”
            1. (Blanket 1)
            2. And so she did.
            3. And since then, she’s started a non-profit, called Covered with Christ….
            4. (Blanket 2)
            5. …and her team has handed out 11,000 blankets and prayed and shared the gospel with so many people.
            6. (Blanket 3)
          3. That’s what we’re talking about.
            1. Just take what you have.
              1. Your resources.
              2. Your talents.
              3. Your heart.
                1. And say, “God, I’m going put this in your hands, because I believe, in your hands, you can do great things with it”
  5. PRINCIPLE #3: GOD WILL SUPPLY TO THE MEASURE OF YOUR FAITH
    1. (Whose Hands)
    2. Look at verse 6 again.
      1. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
        But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
        1. So think about this!
          1. The widow goes to her neighbors and gets a bunch of jars, brings them all home, and starts pouring the oil.
            1. And AS SOON as her son says, “There is not a jar left,” THEN, the oil stops.
              1. Wow!
    3. That’s principle #3 of putting more of your life into God’s hands.
      1. How to Move What You Have into God’s Hands
      2. #1: Focus on what you have, not what you don’t have
      3. #2: Give what you have to God, and watch Him multiply it
      4. #3: Realize that God will supply to the measure of your faith
        1. Had she gotten fewer jars, the oil still would have stopped flowing whenever she was done filling the last jar.
          1. This is why Elisha said back in verse 3, “Don’t ask for just a few!”
            1. He wants her to have big faith! Mountain-moving faith!
    4. Now, we have to be careful here.
      1. Because that terrible heresy of the prosperity gospel gets twisted out of passages like this.
        1. And the false teachers say, “If you just give money to God in faith, He will bless you and make you rich to the measure of your faith!”
          1. I think James 4:3 is a really good verse to balance this passage out and apply proper tension and full Biblical context
          2. (James 4:3) – NIV
          3. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
            1. God is not interested in blessing our greedy desires.
    5. But let’s not the throw the baby out with the bath water.
      1. Let’s not miss the actual Biblical principle here
      2. How to Move What You Have into God’s Hands
      3. #1: Focus on what you have, not what you don’t have
      4. #2: Give it to God, and He will multiply it
      5. #3: God will supply to the measure of your faith
        1. The more you trust God, and the more you put into His hands…the more you will see Him move.
      6. It reminds me of two of my favorite quotes from the great missionaries Hudson Taylor & William Carey
        1. “All God's giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on God being with them.” – Hudson Taylor
        2. “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God” – William Carey
          1. If God can do great things when we put our life into His hands, then we should be attempting great things
            1. Not for ourselves, but for Him!
              1. And remember, it doesn’t matter what you have.
              2. Even a small thing in the hands of God can change the world!
    6. And you can take this principle of filling the jars, and honestly, just apply it to your own relationship with God.
      1. The Bible commentator Alexander Maclaren once said:
      2. “You have God in the measure in which you desire Him.” – Alexander Maclaren
        1. Or, we could say, “You currently have God in the measure in which you currently desire Him”
      3. Do you want more of God?
      4. Do you want more of Him in your life?
      5. Do you want to see Him move?
        1. Then you’ve got to put more of your life into His hands.
          1. You have him in the measure in which you currently desire Him.
          2. You have him in the measure in which you’ve currently placed your life in His hands!
            1. Get on your knees again this week, even if it’s been a long time.
              1. Come back to Him!
            2. Open up your Bible again, even if it’s dusty.
              1. Come back to Him!
            3. Put your life into His hands!
              1. And watch what He will do!
  6. GOSPEL.
    1. (Whose Hands?)
    2. And to those of you who are maybe just starting to come here, or to come back to church.
      1. Or maybe you’ve been here for a while, but you’re just starting to heavily think about really giving your life to God for the first time
    3. I want you to know that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in many ways, is the Greater Elisha.
      1. The Bible says, in so many ways that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament…even the stories.
        1. We’re going to see multiple times this summer that Jesus repeats and fulfills even many of the miracles of Elisha.
          1. Just like Elisha was a part of a miraculous feeding today, so Jesus took a young boy’s few loaves & fish and fed the 5,000.
    4. And just as Elisha offered the widow a way to get free of her debt, Jesus is offering you a way to get free of your debt of sin.
      1. Because all of us have sinned against God.
        1. We’re not perfect. We rebel against His holy law and his ways.
          1. And when we sin against God, it’s like a spiritual debt piling up on your account, and it’s a debt that we cannot repay.
        2. We will never be good enough on our own to go to heaven and be forgiven because someone has to pay our debt, and pay the punishment for our sins first.
      2. But Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth and died on the cross in our place.
        1. He was taking on our debt of sin.
          1. And the Bible says that if you believe in that, you can be forgiven.
          2. If you surrender your life to Jesus Christ as your Savior, and your leader (that is you fully put your life in His hands),
            1. He will forgive you of your sin, you can have a relationship with Him, and He will give you enteral life in heaven.
      3. And if you’ve never done that before, it’s the most important decision you can make.
        1. And so I urge you to do it by getting up from your seat and walking through those back doors during this last song.
          1. I will meet you as you come through, and get you resources & next steps.
            1. Let me pray.

Copyright:

David Sorn

Renovation Church in Blaine, MN

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