It has been (justifiably) said, “To dwell above with the saints in heaven will be glory. But to live below with the saints we know, now that’s a different story.” Honestly, since the fall there have always been relational struggles among people. In fact, living in this world presents us with a perpetual parade of people problems. We struggle to know how to deal with irritating, annoying, and downright evil people.

What is the godly response to people who hurt us and offend us? How does a renewed mind and a transformed life lead us to approach such relational turbulence? We have to accept the fact that failure to respond in a godly way to those who hurt us only puts us in bondage, and we ourselves become tormented and become tormentors in the lives of others.  As long as we are angry with someone, that person is actually in control of us.

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(2 Kings 4:1-7)

The story in 2 Kings 4 revolves around a destitute widow with two sons. She was not unlike homeless women on the streets today who have no place to turn. She was penniless because her husband died leaving her no means of support, and there was famine in the land further exacerbating the circumstances. Her situation was made even more desperate by the practice in those days of taking children as payment for debt. She epitomized a person with a huge problem, wrapped in an extra layer of dilemma. However, her story teaches us that God is the Source of miracles. We are merely His currency; He uses our resourcefulness. As Romans 11:36 reminds us, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”

Everything needed for us to successfully reach our goals and see our dreams realized (as it relates to our families, churches, and communities) is presented in the Word of God. Great works do not just happened; there is always a catalyst. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: . . . .” Conversely, I am convinced that where there are no people the vision perishes. This woman learned what we each should remember: the miracle we look for just might be in our own house.

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