CHARISSA CHEONG reflects on how God refills those who are empty…
London, UK
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” – Psalm 23:5 (ESV)
Psalm 23 speaks of a table being prepared for us. PICTURE: Foxys_forest_manufacture/iStockphoto
In life, we’re bound to go through dry and depleted seasons, where we feel like we’ve run out steam, be it spiritually, physically, or emotionally.
Perhaps we’re struggling to manage our time and busy schedules and our inability to get a handle on things is causing panic. Or maybe we’re experiencing financial struggle, or feeling emotionally drained from relationship difficulties, or dealing with the aftermath of personal trauma and tragedy. Any of these situations can leave us feeling far from God and as though we’re running on empty.
“Perhaps we’re struggling to manage our time and busy schedules and our inability to get a handle on things is causing panic. Or maybe we’re experiencing financial struggle, or feeling emotionally drained from relationship difficulties, or dealing with the aftermath of personal trauma and tragedy. Any of these situations can leave us feeling far from God and as though we’re running on empty. “
Personally, I’ve noticed I’ve been lacking the peace of God over the past few weeks. I’ve been dealing with resurfaced memories and fears from my past and haven’t known what to do about them or how to address them. I sense in my heart that God is somewhere behind the scenes, working on me somehow, but not knowing all the details has been a direct affront to my desire for control and predictability.
The Lord recently led me to a passage in I Kings 17, set during a time of drought. God leads the prophet Elijah to a widow who He says will bring him food, because the brook that Elijah had previously been using for replenishment had just dried up. Trouble is, this widow only has a bit of oil and flour, and was planning on using it to feed herself and her son. After that, she’d be all out of food, and they would both starve to death, she says.
In an act of faith, however, this widow uses the last bit of her oil and flour to make food for Elijah, and God responds by multiplying her supplies, so the ingredients never run out. There was always enough to feed the widow, her son, and Elijah until the end of the drought. A supernatural act of provision that followed a season of severe depletion for all three individuals involved.
God has this remarkable way of refilling us when we’re almost empty, not so we have just enough to keep going, but so we have more than we ever had before! We see this again in the life of Jesus, who waited for the wine at a wedding to completely run out before miraculously turning jars of water into fine wine – the best-tasting wine that was served the whole evening! (John 2).
It’s tempting to question why God allows seasons of depletion to happen when He is by very nature a provider. But when such questions arise, it’s important to remember that sometimes we need to completely run dry in order to be more fully and restoratively replenished.
When it feels like God is literally bleeding us dry, it could be that He needs to remove some of the stuff that we’ve been holding onto, such as fear and worry, to make room for Him to fill us with peace and joy to overflowing. If the wine at the wedding did not completely run out, to the point where there was absolutely nothing left, there would have been no miracle.
When we stop holding on to our own efforts and acknowledge that we’re all out of ideas and abilities, we leave space for God to pour into us. It is in this place of surrender, of knowing that we ultimately bring nothing to the table in our relationship with God, that Jesus sets a great feast for us, using the dregs and drops of what we have and multiplying it into something so much better and more wonderful than what we had before.
When we stop trying to hang onto the little that we have and give it over to Jesus, our cup can overflow.
