What if your emptiness is an opportunity for God to work?

When life leaves us feeling drained, we often focus on what we don’t have. We don’t have enough strength to keep going, enough answers to know what to do, or enough resources to meet the challenges in front of us. We look at what is missing and wonder how things could possibly change.

In 2 Kings 4, a struggling widow faced a problem bigger than anything she could solve on her own. When Elisha asked what she had in her house, her answer was simple: a little oil. It didn’t seem like much, but God was about to use it in a remarkable way.

Before the miracle could happen, however, Elisha gave her an unusual instruction. He told her to collect empty jars.

Why empty jars?

An empty jar has room to receive something.

Maybe that’s where some of us are today. We feel empty. Our strength is depleted. Our hope is gone. Our emotional reserves feel drained. We don’t have answers. We’re empty.

Being empty doesn’t have to be the end of the story. It can be an opportunity for God to fill what we can’t fill ourselves.

You see, the widow couldn’t manufacture oil, but she could bring empty jars. The widow brings what she had, and she let’s God do the rest.

Sometimes, that’s all faith requires from us. It asks us to bring the Lord what we have. Bring him our emptiness, our uncertainty, our weaknesses, and trust him with what we bring. Notice how it works out for the widow.

God provides more oil than the widow expected. At the end of the story, she goes back to Elisha and tells him what happened. He tells her, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

The Lord didn’t merely give her enough to survive that moment. He provided enough to pay the debt, and enough for her family to live on. The problem she brought to God was bigger than her resources, but it wasn’t bigger than God’s provision.

This widow teaches us that we can trust the God who sees us, works with what we have, and provides what we need according to His purposes.

So, bring the Lord your empty today, and see what he does with it.

Thanks for reading.