Desperate, she asks for help from Elijah, a man of God. He instructs her to borrow “not a few empty vessels”. He then tells her to begin filling all of the vessels from her single jar of oil. A miracle becomes evident when the oil fills every jar that has been borrowed! It only stops because there are no more empty jars to fill.
I wonder how often I stop God’s flow. When I have a big task to accomplish, I have a tendency to over prepare. While preparation can be a good thing, it gets in the way when I trust in it rather than trusting in God to fill me with what I need. My part is to show up. His part is to fill me with oil, the Holy Spirit.
To ‘show up’ responsibly, it is useful to ask two questions:
- What must I do because God will not do it for me?
- What must I not do, for God alone will do it for me?
I invite you in joining me to make it our goal to be empty of pride and ego. I recently heard an interesting definition: EGO is Edging God Out. The opposite is walking in humility; realizing that we are totally dependent on God to fill us with all that He is. To this end, please pray with me:
Father, may we decrease so that You increase. May our preparation be in emptying our vessel of self, that we may be filled afresh with Holy Spirit. Grant us the wisdom to identify what we need to do, and the grace to embrace what only You can do. We ask this in Jesus Name, Amen.
Until next time, Blessings! ~ Deb