Keep The Oil Flowing

“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.

2 Kings 4:2

The widow in this story found herself in dire straits. She was almost out of provision. When she came to Elisha for help, he gave her instructions that, from a human perspective, were almost nonsensical. You would expect him to tell her to gather up jars full of oil, but he told her to gather up all the empty jars she could find and fill them from the single small flask she had. This miracle—happening to a real person at a real time—also acts as a parable of how God provides.

In the picture language of Scripture, clay or clay jars are often representative of human beings, and oil represents the Holy Spirit.

In order to increase the measure of oil the woman already possessed, Elisha told her to bring all the emptiness she could find. Emptiness was an asset because it provided the necessary condition for fullness.

Notice how this story ends: “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” (2 Kings 4:5-6). When there was no more emptiness, the oil stopped flowing.

As your emptiness is replaced with God’s fullness, you have a never-ending supply to give to those around you. Trying to live and work in your own power will drain you dry. But living and working in God’s provision open you to a further filling of power.

How can we keep our lives open to the continuing outpouring of the Spirit? By pouring out to others what he has poured into us.

Are you trying to fill your emptiness with things that are not eternal? Are you attempting to find fullness in your own resources? Bring your emptiness to God. Let the Spirit speak to you about your empty places and about the fullness you need to be pouring out to others.

Father, I bring all my emptiness to you so you can fill me. Show me where to pour out what you have poured in.

Thou must be emptied of that wherewith thou art full, that thou mayest be filled with that whereof thou art empty.

St. Augustine(354–430), Latin North African theologian and philosopher