Eventually the brook dried up because of the drought. Then God spoke to Elijah: “Get up and go to Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I’ve instructed a woman who lives there, a widow, to feed you.” So he got up and went to Zarephath. As he came to the entrance of the village he met a woman, a widow, gathering firewood. He asked her, “Please, would you bring me a little water in a jug? I need a drink.” As she went to get it, he called out, “And while you’re at it, would you bring me something to eat?”
She said, “I swear, as surely as your God lives, I don’t have so much as a biscuit. I have a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a bottle; you found me scratching together just enough firewood to make a last meal for my son and me. After we eat it, we’ll die.”
Elijah said to her, “Don’t worry about a thing. Go ahead and do what you’ve said. But first make a small biscuit for me and bring it back here. Then go ahead and make a meal from what’s left for you and your son. This is the word of the God of Israel: ‘The jar of flour will not run out and the bottle of oil will not become empty before God sends rain on the land and ends this drought.’”
And she went right off and did it, did just as Elijah asked. And it turned out as he said—daily food for her and her family. The jar of meal didn’t run out and the bottle of oil didn’t become empty: God’s promise fulfilled to the letter, exactly as Elijah had delivered it! 1 Kings 17:7-16The Message (MSG)
Can you just imagine that as she emptied her flour bowl and oil jar and then took a little cake to Elijah, and then returned home to wash the dirty dishes, she picks up the jar and the jug and she is in shock! The jar is full of flour and the jug is full to the brim with oil. She was an empty woman, but as she took what little she had to offer encouragement to another, God filled her up. I call this the Bucket Principle.
I believe that each of us is given a bucket of encouragement that we are to pour onto those around us. As we dip out of our bucket and pour onto others, God miraculously fills it back up. There are those who have buckets that are running a bit low or even close to empty. Maybe they haven’t had many deposits from other people lately, or maybe their bucket has a leak. In order to try to fill their bucket, they dip out of someone else’s bucket with a cutting word here or a degrading comment there. But you know what? You can never get your bucket filled by dipping out of someone else’s. You can only get your bucket filled by dipping out of your own and sharing the encouragement with others. When you give from your bucket of encouragement, God is there to pour more back into you.1
What is in your bucket?
Adjust that Crown!
Jonna
1.Jaynes, Sharon (2007-09-01). The Power of a Woman's Words (pp. 219-220). Harvest House Publishers. Kindle Edition.
