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. 2 Kings 4:6 NKJV
Every one of us has been there at some point. You’re driving along, and notice that the gas gauge is reading empty, and no gas stations are in sight. You pray and hope that the car makes it just a little bit further, wondering why it seems that the gas stations are further apart when you really need one now. Just when you think it might make it, the car loses power. It’s happened to me a couple of times, in an old car with a bad gas gauge that read more that what was really in the tank. And I had to hoof it over a mile to a station. I was late for work that day.
We get pushed to our limits, too. I had a rough day today. It was a day that I was pushed to the end of myself, and then some. I had no more “gas” by the time I made it to church. You see, I’m a youth pastor. I have to give of myself often, and Wednesday is our midweek youth service. I was spent. I was tired. I was in a bad mood. Everything that could go wrong seemed to today. I was very late for work. I waited at the doctor’s office forever. The kids were crazy. Working conditions were poor. Traffic was horrible. I had to drive in the blinding tropical rain that central Florida is famous for during the summer. Everything seemed set against me today. By the time I got to church, I had been drained, and I still had to preach!
I prayed, my wife prayed, and we got started. I told the Lord I didn’t have the strength, but praise Him, he gave me the grace I needed! It seems that those times when we feel so unworthy to do the work of ministry, God blesses us and shows off! He gave me the strength and the words I needed to touch these teenagers, when I had run dry.
I am reminded about Elisha and the woman whose sons were about to be taken and enslaved to pay her late husbands debts off. She would have been up the creek, as middle eastern society then was man-driven. Women couldn’t do anything then. With no husband, a lady needed a son to take care of her. Her man was dead, and her boys were about to be sold out from her. She was in dire straits. Thus, we can tell why she cried out for God’s help via His prophet.
“What do you have in the house”, asked Elisha, after that she had poured out her problem to him. All she had was a little bit of oil in a jar. So he told her to send her boys out to borrow as many pots as they could. She did, and he told her to shut themselves up in the house and pour the oil into all the pots. They were then to sell them, pay the debt and live off the rest. And that they did. God had blessed this woman indeed!
But I want to focus on that nearly empty jar of oil. It didn’t have much to give. When it should have been spent dry, God filled it. And fillled it. And kept filling it till all the available pots were full. Sometimes, like tonight, I go into times of service as empty as that oil jar. And, just when I think I can’t pour out anymore, God fills me with what I need to fill another pot. God hasn’t let this jar run dry yet!
Why is it that after these years of ministry, I still get amazed when God fills me? I should know by now that he will give me the grace and the words and the power I need when I need it. But I am still amazed, and, dare I say, surprised! Tonight, as I began preaching, I felt that power and touch of the Lord Jesus in my spirit, and I felt like I was floating tonight. God really blessed me!
Why does God do this? I think that the Bible gives us a pretty good answer. God can work with brokenness and weakness. When I feel the most empty and broken, the Lord touches me. It was the apostle Paul who wrote of his own brokenness and weakness in 2 Cor. 12:8-9:
Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 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.
So, friends, remember that when you feel that you are at the end of yourself, get ready, because God is about to pour some oil out of you that you didn’t know was there.
God bless!
