What's in my Hands
When our resources are waning, whatever they are, it’s so very easy to feel the wet blanket of burden weighing us down in every aspect of our lives. We carry it with us, dragging it around, and it affects our countenance. Whether physically, emotionally, or fiscally, when we are challenged, it can show on our faces and in our dispositions.
We worry how we will meet our obligations, make good on our commitments, and support those who depend upon our strength, our leadership, and our endeavors to provide.
We seek the well that won’t run dry, as if one actually exists in this world. It doesn’t.
The truth is, we are always wanting or needing something. Whether it is material provision or just the answer to a prayer for others that they will find theirs. We lay before the Lord our petitions in faith that He will answer them.
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
Too often I can feel like the woman with the little bit of oil who, after using it up, feared that there would be no more for her and family. The prophet Elijah assured her otherwise, and through her faith, her jar of oil did not go empty.
I have to ask myself… what do I have that I hold on too tightly rather than using it in the faith that He will provide more? More than monetarily, how about in the grace that I need to extend to someone who has hurt me? Or in the patience that I need while waiting on God to work out a solution to a hardship?
When I shift from focusing on what I don’t have enough of, I can see what is already in my hands. I dole out what I have and ask that God will multiply it, spreading it along the ground like seed in good soil. I pray for His blessings upon it that somehow, someway it will be enough.
And though I can never explain how, it just always is.
He is always making a way. He is forever causing my jar of oil to replenish in the ways I need Him to, no matter how deficient my situation may feel at the time.
I believe that this is how we stay connected to the source of His provision. When we look to God expectantly, knowing that He will multiply our efforts, our little bit of oil mixed with faith, He turns on a spigot that enables us to make our daily bread.
Having our storehouse overfilled with abundance would be a wonderful thing. And someday, perhaps we will know this. But dependence on God and knowing that He will provide for us, heal us, sooth us when hurts come to knock us down, is the essence to persevering in righteousness.
Know where your help comes from. God has an unlimited supply of everything you need.
May your hands and heart be always open to receive what He has in store.
No matter what you are facing, trust God, stand in faith, and your oil will not run dry.