Many of us have heard the analogy of varying perspectives of a partially-filled glass of water. One would ask a group of people or audience, “What do you see? Some would respond, “A glass half empty.” Others respond with “a glass half full.”
Today, I want to share with you from this example of a glass and give you the opportunity to take personal assessment of where you are in this season and discover the opportunity within areas of emptiness. First, l’d like to share a personal story from experience of emptiness.
I remember being a new mom to my daughter Grace and feeling completely overwhelmed. I was twenty five years old, newly married for only 2 years, the first of my friends to have a baby, and living in a one bedroom apartment with a baby who didn’t want to nurse. Sitting at my pump on the edge of my couch, I felt completely weak. Like, in over my head…I don’t think I’m fit to be a mom weak! Yet in my moment of weakness I heard God say to my heart, “You can be weak. Let me be strong.” His words gave me permission to release my desire to be strong on my own and have everything figured out. I could rest the weight of my trust on who He is, and allow my weakness to be the empty space that He could fill with His strength. I wrote His words down on a sticky note and placed the note in my pump as a reminder, as well as mediated on this Scripture:
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV)
Sometimes, when we are navigating seasons of loss or constantly pouring out, we become so focused on our inadequacy or what no longer remains that we neglect to remember there is a Source that can sustain us in every area. Or maybe your time or attention is so filled with activity that your soul is desperately missing the fullness available in the presence of God through fellowship with Him.
For you, it may be a new job that’s stretching you to the max or a place in your life that was once full and vibrant that now seems empty and stagnant.
Notably, there is another concerning thought pattern for consideration: the deception that past seasons of fullness have translated into today without realizing that you are needing a continual connection to the source of your strength and fulfillment.
I’m here to remind you today that the very place where you feel empty, depleted or dry is a place where God can fill you to the overflow. People and things cannot sustain the empty places of your soul. But Jesus can and will! Be encouraged and receive the fullness of who He is. Don’t let condemnation hold you back from asking. He wants to fill you up.
“Empty is an opportunity to be filled.”
Recently, I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit speak these words to my heart during a staff conference at my church, and have been meditating on these words several times since, as biblical examples of this truth have been illuminated in my heart.
For the woman with the issue of blood, the end of her resources was the beginning of her faith switching from physicians and into the power that flowed from the only One who could heal her.
“Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”
And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.” (Mark 5:25-34 NKJV)
For the widow down to nothing but a jar of oil, empty vessels from neighbors were the place that the oil continued to flow until there were no vessels remaining.
A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.” So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.”
And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.” (2 Kings 4:1-7 NKJV)
In my own life, no longer feeling weak as a new, nursuing mother yet navigating days of continuous pouring I am reminded of this truth:
I am a limited resource. God is an unlimited resource.
His power and love are accessible to draw from at all times.
In other words, empty is an opportunity to be filled with His strength.
I’ve heard it said that when you’re down to nothing, God is up to something. My prayer for you today is that you receive a paradigm shift from depletion to expectation that empty is an opportunity to be filled.
Prayer: Jesus, I’ve felt empty lately. I repent for seeking other sources to fill the voids of my heart and soul. Holy Spirit, I ask that You fill me up. I ask for a fresh revelation of who you are, and a renewed desire for You. Matthew 5:6, you promised that blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. I ask for a hunger and thirst for your righteousness, and a distaste for the things of this world. Fill me to the overflow from the unlimited resource of your power and love. I receive it now. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.
Emonne
