There have been times in my life where I can honestly say I felt just like an ice dispenser. You know, the kind at the hotel down the hall, near the elevators. They leave you a small bucket in your room, and you can traipse down the hall, put your bucket under the opening, and push a button. A motor begins to turn and out comes ice into your bucket that you can take back to your room and use.
I am not even sure that hotels have that anymore, but there have been seasons in my life where that has definitely been the best way to describe how I was feeling. I have felt like an ice dispenser that someone is always coming by and wanting to push my buttons to get something out of me, to take from me for their own use, leaving me pretty empty.
Ever felt like there is a constant proverbial “bucket” placed under you?
Ever felt like you give and give until there is nothing left?
In Luke 6: 20-49, Jesus is speaking to His newly chosen disciples about His Kingdom….an upside down Kingdom from what many of them had heard. Within this Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke these words in Luke 6:45: “The good man brings good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored in his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”
I have read this Scripture often, and said to myself, “I have no overflow!!! I have nothing to give! I feel like I am in a constant UNDERFLOW! I am empty and I am tired.”
I could also honestly say that when I found myself like this, my mouth ends up getting me into trouble because I spout things that are coming from a tired, stressed, and frustrated place. Where is that place? The Bible says, it is in the heart.
Sisters, how is your heart today? Can you bring that to the Lord and ask Him to replace the yuck that is in there, or the emptiness that is in there, with Himself, right now? Can you ask Him to fill you with His love, His truth, and His Spirit?
Sisters, what are you storing up in your heart? To store something up reminds me of a silo where farmers keep grain until needed.
We are responsible for what we are storing in our hearts. And we are responsible to steward what is in there, well.
Can you today get rid of the hurt, unforgiveness, pain, and shame from your silo? Can you clean out the storage by surrendering it all to the Lord? Can you say this, “I give this ______ to You, Jesus.” This will make room for more of Jesus to fill your heart.
And then, can you invite Holy Spirit to fill you with Himself, His love, His light and His truth? That way, your mouth will
overflow love, kindness, gratitude, and encouragement.
It is God’s desire for us to operate from an overflow of good, not an underflow of yuck. Talk with the Lord about ways you can be filled to overflow when people come with their bucket, needing some filling from you. What does that look like?
You are loved,
Jena
Start storing up some good in your heart by joining us for The Deeper Retreat! Come and get your heart filled up so it can overflow on those around you! For more info and to register, click HERE!