Think of yourself as a glass pitcher of water, full of crisp cool water, and ready to be poured and indulged. Now think of every aspect of your life as a cup, notice some cups are larger than others a require more water, and some are small and only need a drip. Now think about your life in the span of a month. You the water pitcher, can only hold the exact capacity of the pitcher, and nothing more, and each cup demands to be filled. How much are you able to pour in the given evaluation time, which is a month, before becoming empty? How much can you give until you literally have nothing at all left to give? This answer will vary from person to person, but it is one that demands to be answered because for many, this is the answer to all the problems present. We line up our cups each day, and before even walking out the door we have began to give of ourselves unconsciously.
Our alarm clock rings, and we lay there mentally pouring into all that day will consist of. We hop up, start the coffee and scan through social media while its brewing pouring ourselves into the lives of others through a glass screen. If you are like me, you check you planner on that given day to prepare for the day's demands. Pouring into classes, assignments, essays, online classes, labs, studying, workouts, friends, clubs, work and personal to-dos... You have already given over half of your contents and its only 4 p.m. Then unexpected calls of a friend needing your comfort and advice, a family member needing your help or a night full of studying and assignments await you because undoubtedly your professors met and decided to assign everything on the same day. You lay down, and you are left with nothing...but a dry pitcher that no longer has this fresh water. After a week of this, you grow weary and faint, and after a month...you feel nothing but a tired and worn down spirit. Life demands a lot more than sometimes we have to give mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically, and it is difficult to sustain fulfillment when we feel nothing but dry bones.
We can search for fulfillment, replenishing in this world, but those will surely fail us, but the fulfillment found in the one who gives life and life abundantly will restore, refurbish and over flow our spirit. He sings songs of peace over us, if we just cast our cares at His feet and He makes us whole again. He takes us to His quite waters, restores our soul and over comes us with joy, strength, wisdom and love. He brings together our brokenness and gives us a new song to sing when our hallelujah grows weak. You are His child, no one knows you better than He does, and He loves when we love His presence enough to seek refuge there. He is the lifter of your head guider on the voyage and ever present help. He sees each cup and knows its importance in your life, but He also sees where we may be pouring that may be a waste of ourselves. Some cups may not need to make the line up, and we have to ask God what is His will and what is not. With Him being empty is not a bad thing anymore, but a moment with you and your creator to become full again.
Just when you have poured all of you out, He begins to pour through you in everything you do, and the product is blessed in abundance. It is truly an incredible thing because there is victory where there should have been loss, success where failure should have reigned and strength when you have come the wits end. We were never created to endure and conquer even the smallest tasks all alone, but come to the end of our self, and realize where our help comes from.
