To pour or not to pour

Over the past few days, a lot of loose ends have tightened themselves up into a nice little ball of chaos that I want to share with you. Hopefully, as I unravel this mess it makes sense to you. I'm a firm believer that if you want to do something different you have to do something you've never done before. So when I heard the sermon from Steven Furtick from 2 Kings 4 about the widow's oil I was a little shocked.

Steven challenged his congregation to begin to pour into someone else, even if you don't feel like you have a lot of oil in your vase. Which is what the widow did. She poured into empty vessels what she had and God provided her with more than she could have imagined. Which I find to be the opposite of what I have grown up hearing. "You can't pour into someone until you are full yourself." As you can see, I have spent a few days in confusion and turmoil.

As I spoke with God on the subject a little more and tried to sort out my brain, I realized something. I've been playing the roll of the widow for months. Last year I wish given a list of 5 people who I was supposed to spend time praying for daily. I didn't get to it EVERY day. But I realized that the more that I prayed for these people, the more I would get specific prayers for them. Some days I would send it to them. Just as an encouragement. Little known to anyone, I've been doing that for many years.

I realized that that was a part of me that, over time, had become dormant. I didn't feel like it was a part of me anymore so I didn't use it. BUT when God asked me to pray for these 5 people I found that it was becoming alive again. So I see what Steven was talking about. It wasn't from a place of emptiness, it was a place I didn't feel that I was adequate in. God took that small amount of oil I had and made it something more.

As I pray for one person, it flows better and quicker as I go through the list. Then before you know it, I've covered more people than "required" because it just becomes natural. God doesn't want us to spend our life relying on ourselves. In ALL area's he wants us to rely on him. Those area's that you don't think you are made for that he's calling you to. All he wants you to do is pour out a little bit and watch him pour the rest.

I want to encourage you with that today. If you don't feel adequate for the area you feel called, know that you are in good company. Most of us feel that way. But God wants us to rely on him more and less on ourselves.