Have you ever faced an impossible situation and not known what to do? Have you ever had a debt so big you couldn’t pay it, or a problem so big you couldn’t fix it? Have you ever had God come through for you in unexpected ways to provide exactly what you need? I certainly have and I bet you have too.

2 Kings chapter 4 tells the story of the prophet Elisha helping a poor widow. Verses 1-7: “One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, ‘My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.’ ‘What can I do to help you?’ Elisha asked. ‘Tell me, what do you have in the house?’ ‘Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil.’ she replied. And Elisha said, ‘Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when its filled.’ So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim! ‘Bring me another jar,’ she said to one of her sons.’ ‘There aren’t any more!’ he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing. When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, ‘Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.'”

Wow. Isn’t that just incredible? You’re likely not facing your children being taken as slaves because of your debts, but you’re facing a hardship that is a threat. You don’t have the solution. You can’t do this on your own. But there’s one question you need to hear right now, “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”

It’s easy to become so negatively focused that all we see is what we’ve lost and what we don’t have. That won’t help you now. WHAT DO YOU HAVE?

This woman had only a small flask of olive oil. Understand, this was a very small container used for anointing, not even cooking. It was her only thing of value and her only thing left.

I find it remarkable in her state of desperation that she even remembered she still had something so small. After losing so much, she still knew she had that small flask of olive oil. Perhaps that morning, she had made a list of her gratitudes and all she had left to be grateful for was her 2 sons and that tiny bit of olive oil. She knew she had it because she was grateful for it.

Gratitude. It costs you nothing, but it makes everything more. Gratitude turns what we have into enough and more. This woman had taken an inventory of what she still had to be grateful for, so she immediately knew, I HAVE THIS FLASK OF OLIVE OIL! And her gratitude for so little made a way for so much more.

Good ol’ Willie Nelson once said, “The more you practice the art of gratitude, the more you have to be grateful for.” How many of us know that’s true?

Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty. This widow woman facing the threat of losing her 2 sons had spent time in gratitude for what she had left. And that gratitude brought a richness she could not have expected.

My sister, what have you been complaining about? It’s making you a poor woman. You simply cannot be grateful and be complaining at the same time. You cannot be fully aware of your blessings while you’re complaining about the details.

Gratitude is a sacrifice. It’s a sacrifice of entitlement and expectations. It’s a sacrifice of control.

Complaining is also a sacrifice. It’s a sacrifice of blessings and provision. It’s a sacrifice of seeing God’s power to take what little you have and make it more than enough.

You choose your sacrifice because it comes at a sacrifice as well.

Lord, I don’t need the false illusion of control. I release my entitlement and my expectations, and I offer my gratitude for every little thing I have. Forgive me for complaining and open my eyes to see what I do still have here.

You know what I really love about this story? I love that it totally doesn’t make sense! It doesn’t make sense that a tiny flask of oil would pour out and fill every large jar brought in. It doesn’t make sense that debts could be paid with something that started so little. It doesn’t make sense that her future provision could be found in the one little thing she still had.

This reminds us that it doesn’t have to make sense. Stop trying to understand how this is going to work, and trust that God can and will make it work.

But do you notice how God makes it work? He makes it work through this woman’s WILLINGNESS, not her WISHING.

There’s a big difference between wishing and willing. Just wishing for money wasn’t solving her problems. Just wishing someone would help her didn’t change things. She was WILLING to act in faith. She was WILLING to do what didn’t make sense. She had to commit herself in faith to God’s provision. Her active participation was required. No one just did it for her. She and her sons found God’s powerful provision in their willing movements of faith.

God’s powerful provision invites our hard work and never excuses our laziness. Wishing isn’t enough. God says you must be WILLING. Willing to do what doesn’t make sense. Willing to put in the work. Willing to get up when you don’t feel like it. Willing to sacrifice without complaint. Willing to take an inventory of what you do have and actively pour out your gratitude.

Take your inventory. What do you have to be grateful for? How can you pour it out? How can you actively use it in faith of God’s supernatural provision? I don’t have that answer for you, but God does if you seek him.

Here’s what I know – God will supernaturally fill everything you bring to him in obedience. He will provide supernatural energy to the tired and spent spirit. He will provide supernatural creativity to the empty soul lacking new ideas. He will provide supernatural peace to the troubled mind who will lay it all at the foot of the cross.

Empty yourself completely, then be filled. Maybe your problem is you’ve been holding back. You’ve been saving a little emergency reserve because you fear being completely emptied. You don’t really give God all your worries because you want to hold on to a few to ponder over. What in the world would you think about if you really emptied yourself of ALL your worries and fears? You’re not empty – you’re holding on to some of that.

Well Sis, the borrowed jars had to be EMPTY first, then they were supernaturally filled.

If you’re constantly holding back, then you never get completely filled.

I learned God’s supernatural filling in the most ordinary way … energy. I have God’s supernatural energy pulsing through my veins. I can go and go and go. I wake up with energy. I spend my days with overflowing energy. My secret is I don’t save it up. I use it. I give all of me in every moment. I don’t save it for something else that may be coming – no, I give it all now and God refills my emptiness without fail.

When I’m hosting retreats, I’m always the first one up and last one to bed. That often means I get maybe 2 to 3 hours of sleep. Energy is important to me. I have women spending a few days there with me and I want to give them nothing but my best. I want to be fully engaged, all-in for everything. So, this is my prayer when I finally go to sleep at night. “Lord, I’ve given my all and I’m emptied. Please refill me. Multiply the benefits of these few hours of sleep to benefit my body. For these few hours, double them, triple their effects so I wake up with a fresh supply of energy to give in the morning.” AND HE DOES!

If I’m complaining, I miss the filling. If I’m holding back, I miss the filling. However, if I give everything I have in gratitude, I’m supernaturally filled to overflowing and I can give and give and give.

What is it you desperately need more of right now? Think of it. Be specific.

Now, God is asking, “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”

In gratitude, pour it all out Sis. Receive your supernatural filling!

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