Empty Cup

It had been one of those days. A single drop of patience rested at the bottom of my cup. And my children, my precious little offspring, were jamming their tiny hands in as far as they could, fighting over who would get the last of what mom had to pour out.

After refereeing for hours, homeschooling with a nap-refusing baby glued to my hip, and hopelessly attempting to tidy the house and prepare a birthday dinner for my husband, the single drop evaporated into thin air.

I. Was. Done.

I fell into the chair at the dinner table without an ounce of energy to entertain our guests. All I could think about was bedtime… and everything I needed to accomplish between now and then. Most of all, how I’d be starting the same song and dance over in less than twelve hours, assuming the baby actually slept through the night.

Lord, please, let her sleep a full twelve hours tonight.

You can’t pour from an empty cup. The science doesn’t work.

Humanly speaking.

After all, how can we create something from nothing?

We can’t.

“Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.”

So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?”  As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.”

 But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”

But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”

So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.” – 1 Kings 17:8-16

It is not possible to give what you don’t have.

But we serve a God of the impossible. A God who created everything out of nothing. He possesses unlimited resources.

He doesn’t operate off of our logic or science or an ounce of our human ability.

And maybe, like the widow, and like me, you’re holding a cup that is threatening to run dry. The resources are scarce, and you’re not even sure how you’re going to operate off of what little you’ve got.

But God isn’t asking you to come up with a solution. God is asking you to place your faith and trust in Him. To believe that He will sustain you, in whatever the matter. To trust that He will provide exactly what you need out of the abundance of His glorious riches. And to pour out whatever it is you have, regardless of how small it may be, in service to Him so He can use it for His glory.

Take your empty cup to Him, dear friend, and not only will He fill it – it will overflow!