Are You Empty?

Do you feel like January is a “blah” month?  Christmas and New Years celebrations have passed and the hype of the holidays has died down.  School starts again and we go back to work and mundane routines. We no longer smile while walking into the grocery store, but, instead, dread the long list of “to-dos”.  Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes January is really long. January can feel like an empty month and I find myself feeling “empty”.  

Why do I feel empty?  Am I missing something?  Is there more?  

There is a woman in 2 Kings 4 whose story I can identify with time and time again.  This woman was a widow trying to take care of her two children, but found herself in poverty.  An angry landlord was threatening to take her children because she couldn’t pay him.  Just when she was at the end of her rope, God provided a prophet.  She cried out to the prophet, Elisha, and asked for help.  He did something crazy.  He didn’t give her enough for rent or didn’t take up an offering, but asked her what she had in the house?  

Ummm, Elisha. She was POOR and didn’t have anything in the house.  

She did have a tiny bit of oil, but this was of no value, or so she thought.  He told her to go to her neighbors and ask for all their empty jars.  He said, “don’t ask for just one jar but ask for many jars.”  Can you imagine the look on the faces of your neighbors when you knock on their door and ask for an empty jar?  She came back to the house and Elisha told her to fill up the jars.  

Ummm, once again, Elisha, she didn’t have anything but a tiny bit of oil.  

This woman of faith started pouring the oil into the empty jars.  She kept pouring, and pouring, and pouring, and pouring until EVERY jar was completely full.  ALL OF THEM.  She asked her son for another jar, and he told her there was not another jar.  Then the oil stopped flowing.

Here was a woman faced with so much fear.  Fear of her children being taken away from her.  Fear of being alone and fear of being rejected by her neighbors.  Yet, she cried out for help and was told to do something absurd and crazy.  She was empty, poor and afraid.  This night changed her life as God showed Himself faithful.  

Did you notice that she was instructed to ask for many jars?  How are we doing?  Are we asking for an abundance or just enough to get by?  Are we believing that God can give us an abundance of “oil” to satisfy our deepest need?  If you are feeling “empty,” ask Him to fill ever empty place within you.  

Remember the oil?  When the jars stopped coming, the oil stopped.  You see, it wasn’t an oil problem, but a vessel problem.  The oil kept flowing as long as there was an open vessel to fill it up.  The oil of God will continue to flow in us if we keep ourselves open to hear His voice and obey.  God is in the “overwhelming” business and is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ever hope or imagine.”  (Ephesians 3:20-21).  

The last question is: what are you filling your life up with?  What are you oily with?  Exodus 30 talks about the oil being used to anoint everything in the temple to make it holy.  Everything it touched was holy because it was the anointed oil of God.  The oil of Jesus will spread over your life and make the dirty areas clean.  It can cleanse your heart of greed, jealousy, depression, loneliness and so much more.  Oil also causes you to fulfill your calling in life.  I Samuel 10 describes Saul being anointed with oil to become king.  Oil is used to bring much joy.  Psalm 45:7 - “You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore, God, your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness.” 

  

Instead of mourning, you will be given the oil of gladness (Isa 63:1).

So do you find yourself in a dry spot?  Do you feel empty?  Ask God for big things and He may tell you to go get some empty jars. Grab as many as you can.

Are you an open vessel for the Lord?  What is He filling your life up with?  Are you filling it up with the oil of healing, the oil of gladness and the oil of cleansing?

Friends, let’s not let January be just another month.  I’m going to ask for more and more and more - with abundance!

Allison Shamblin

Assistant Teaching Director

Rutherfordton Day Class

A Word for 2016

Brenda Winker

My new year’s day began with a cup of coffee and some alone time with God.  There isn’t a better way to start a day.  Sometimes due to circumstances beyond my control it doesn’t happen that way but today it did. I felt blessed and grateful. But when my husband Joel awakened I was again grateful because he greeted me with a big smile, sweet kisses, and sweet words. Due to his Alzheimer's disease, he didn’t know it was a brand new year, but he knew it was a brand new day and I was part of it. So, I paused temporarily and received the blessing God was giving me right then. We sat awhile, chatted just a little, and finished our coffee, and he went to get the newspapers.

I got busy making the Communion bread for the Sunday worship service. Naturally Joel offered to help (more than once), but I like being in the kitchen alone if I’m baking or cooking. I get distracted easily so it is better that way.  I kept my mind centered on the recipe itself in the beginning but as I stirred and kneaded the dough I began to think about how very special my day was! I was so overwhelmed with gratitude that I began to silently once again commune with God. I thanked Him for my husband, our family, friends, and all the people He continues to bring into our lives. I thanked Him for more blessings than I could count and for a new year with new opportunities to serve Him. Psalm 100:4-5 says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

As I kneaded the communion bread God reminded me how He kneads us to make us His. With the Communion bread, I melt a stick of real butter and a teaspoon of Crisco. I add salt, sugar, and milk and stir. Then I add the mixture to the flour. It should have been gradually added but I admit I took a shortcut and just dumped it all in at once.

God takes us just as we are, adds all the ingredients necessary to make us more like Jesus. He doesn’t take short cuts with us and dump everything into us at the same time like I did for the bread. He is gradually at work in us with His never ending love and grace. Hebrews 10:23 reads, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Our God is faithful!

Then I put the dough in the refrigerator for a while because that’s what the recipe says. I took it out a little later so the dough would soften up so I could knead it some more. The dough isn’t easy to knead and work with at this point but neither are we. All too often we have to be softened up and made pliable just like the bread dough.

I rolled the dough out as thin as possible on waxed paper, sliced it, and crisscrossed it into little squares. Hopefully the pieces will be somewhat uniform for serving to my church family. I trimmed off the rough jagged edges, placed the baking sheet on top of the rolled and sliced dough and flipped it all over onto the baking sheet. I removed the waxed paper and placed the pan in the oven to bake.

Notice I said somewhat uniform pieces because getting them just right is virtually impossible for me. But nothing is impossible for God and thankfully He doesn’t give up on making us just right. Not only does He knead and make us into the right size pieces but He trims off the ragged edges and makes us into His servants.

Jeremiah 29:13 tells us, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” We must regularly seek God through prayer and His Word and allow Him to work in and through us to do His will. 

Hebrews 13:20-21 is my prayer for today and all year long, “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip us with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.”

God alone has the recipe and all we have to do is be the “dough in His hands.”

Brenda Winker,

former ATD, Rutherfordton Day Class