I See Half Full, God Sees Room To Fill

 I See Half Full, God Sees Room To Fill

There have been many times in my life where I have felt left out.

Left out of invitations, left out of conversations, left out of inside jokes…third wheel.

Left out.

The widow in 2 Kings 4:1-7 had reason to feel left out too. Her husband had died leaving her to raise her two boys alone. She had debt that she could not pay and now the creditor was coming to take her sons as slaves as payment. I am sure she could see other families in the village thriving: husbands working, wives raising children who seemed to have no cares (at least cares as heavy as her own). Left out. Her husband had been a prophet of the Lord…. but he was gone. Perhaps she wondered if God too, had left her side.

Elisha is summoned for help by this desperate woman. He tells her to give an account of what she has in her house.
“Your servant has nothing there at all,”she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”

She saw NOTHING. She barely acknowledged what she DID HAVE; compared to what others had, it looked like/felt like…nothing.

Her “nothing” provided room for God to do a miracle. 

Elisha tells her to gather every pot she can get her hands on.

Every pot in her own home.

Every spare pot from her neighbors.

“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.” And she does.

Miracles happen when we are obedient regardless of whether God’s instructions make any sense to us.

She saw “half full” but God saw “room to fill”.

God wrote the end of this widow’s story. She ran out of pots for all the oil that God provided. Her debts were paid. She had more than enough left over to live on.

I have learned…and continue to learn…that being left out/feeling left out…has been a huge gift from God. I have sought Him for help in that lonely place. When I looked at a weekend that was empty because I had not been included in someone else’s fun, I merely asked the Lord how HE WOULD FILL IT.

And He did. He has directed me to friendships and experiences that have been so rich and meaningful. I would likely have missed them had I been included in everything else.

One of Satan’s tactics to keep us from experiencing all God has for us is keeping us busy…all the time. Full calendars. Full work load. Overload of information from social media. There is frankly…no room for God to fill us with fresh oil that comes from  alone time with Him. No room for reaching out to someone new to us.

Feeling left out? Feeling like “all I have is just a little oil”?

Commit what you DO HAVE to Him.…not only what He has already given to you, but the SPACE that is empty. Allow Him to FILL YOU WITH FRESH OIL…
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He wants to use your “left out” feeling to do the miraculous in the life of the dry and thirsty folks around you!

​Father, take my “half full” and fill it…to overflowing!