Emptiness

Emptiness. Space that has nothing in it. Have there been times you have come to God, feeling self-sufficient and coming before Him with your own ideas and plans? And then other times come to Him, knowing what you are facing you cannot face on your own strength and you come before Him, empty, needing Him to fill you and strengthen you? Which time did you feel like you were the most effective when doing the work to which God has called you?

Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest. -2 Kings 4:1-7

After reading this passage, it got me thinking about emptiness and how important it is in our walk with the Lord. We can come before the Lord and think we can do things on our own strength but the Lord cannot use us to the capacity He could if we would come to Him empty and allow Him to fill us. There are so many times that God has brought things before me or placed me in situations that I needed to rely on Him. He brought me to those times to show me the emptiness that only He can fill and if I rely on Him, He will fill me with His strength and go with me through whatever He has allowed into my life or placed before me.

I am so thankful that God not only has a solution for my emptiness but that He can also use my emptiness. It is just another reminder that without God, I am nothing and only through Him and by Him, am I able to do the work which He has for me!

So my challenge to you is, are you coming before God, empty, and allowing Him to use you in the way He wants to use you or do you come before God with an agenda and your own plans? My prayer is that you may come before Him empty and allow Him to use you in the way which He sees best!