This content was created by Holly Furtick. This content was uploaded by Holly Furtick. This is a YouTube video titled "When You Feel Empty | Holly Furtick" created on May 12, 2021. It features Holly Furtick delivering a motivational talk about the importance of giving and pouring into others even when feeling empty, using personal anecdotes and biblical references. The talk includes interactions with another speaker, but it is primarily a monologue by Holly Furtick.
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All she had was a little bit of oil. And if you think about wasn't enough to do anything with, but it was all she had. And when you're in survival mode, your instinct is to hoard everything you have. Every resource, every dollar, every minute, every word. You keep it to yourself. But the prophet said, pour. Okay, so this is my son, Elijah. He's almost 16, taller than me. This is our middle child, Graham. He's 13 and also taller than me. I have heels on, but I think you're still taller than me. Okay. Such a weird thing when your children get taller than you. I just can't explain. So, Elijah, you're gonna stand here, and you're gonna hand me the jars. Graham, you're gonna stand here, and you're gonna take the jars from me and put them on the shelf. I love these boys. I love them more than I ever thought possible. And I would do anything for them. But pouring out is scary. What if I pour out and I have nothing left for myself? What if no one recognizes me? What if no one appreciates me? If you're waiting for it to be appreciated, you're gonna be waiting a long time. The prophet said, keep pouring. And sometimes when we feel empty, it's because we feel lost. We feel like maybe we have nothing to contribute. A couple of years ago, 10 years ago to be exact, I was feeling lost. We had planted our church 15 years ago, and when we did that, I was involved in every single detail. We didn't have enough people, so it was all hands on deck. I was a worship leader, believe it or not. I was a teacher in Ekids, and in the very early days of our church, we had staff meeting at my kitchen table. I knew everything that was going on in our church. But as the church grew and we were able to hire more people who could sing, and, you know, we were able to buy a table and get an office space for our staff. And our family started to grow. I gradually began to step away and take care of our family. And I love being at home with our toddlers, but I felt left out. I felt like everyone else was having a blast without me and like I didn't know anything that was going on anymore. And I just felt like I had nothing to contribute. And I wanted to be asked to do something, like lead something or organize something or maybe be on the worship team again, which never happened. And I started to have a pity party because no one was picking up on the hints that I was dropping. Have you ever been there before? And I remember One day just realizing, wait a minute. I mean, I don't really have that much time anyway, but I could do what we're asking everyone else in the church to do right now, which was lead an egroup. I didn't have a lot of time, but I had one evening a week. So I started an E group for young married women. And I started to pour. Every day. I was wiping noses, and I was cutting food into tiny little pieces, but every Tuesday night, I was pouring into the women in my home. You got two. And we talked about how to be.
A godly wife, and we read books.
Together, and we memorized script.
It was just a little thing.
But I kept pouring, and that group.
Came to an end.
So I started another group, and I poured into them. And then I started another group, and I poured into them. And then what I had been teaching all those years, I turned it into a little Bible study for. For the women of our church, that one was a little bit more. And, you know, sometimes we go through seasons where the emptiness, though, it's more than just. It's more than just the feeling that we don't have purpose. Sometimes it's the feeling that you don't have enough to make it. And I know that some of you, under the sound of my voice, you're like my friend, and you're going through the hardest thing you've ever been through. You're fighting for your life. And the word of the Lord for you today is just keep pouring.
You have to keep pouring, because the miracle only happens when you move, because it's while you pour. Oh, I'm out of jars. It's while you pour that you experience God's strength and his grace and the joy that only comes while you pour. Because now you're pouring with a purpose. She was pouring for those boys, but.
She was never pouring from a full jar.
She was pouring from a jar that only had a little bit of oil. And if you wait. Thanks, guys. If you wait until you feel full to pour, you will never experience the power of God in your life. And you'll never experience the miracle of feeling like God is just poisoning, pouring through you.
Sometimes when you pour, it does feel like a sacrifice. A sacrifice that no one will ever see. You know what Jesus said? Luke 6:38. He said, Give and it will be given unto you a good measure.
Press it down, shaken together. Get that jar full, because it will be running over into your lap.
Jesus said, you just keep giving, and I will pour into you. Our instinct says, hold on tightly to Everything you have. But Jesus says, just keep giving. Be generous with your love. Be generous with your time. Be generous with your encouragement. When you feel empty, just keep pouring. So here's how the story ends. When all the jars were full, she said to her sons, bring me another one. But he replied, there's not a jar left. Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, go and sell the oil and pay off your debts. You and your sons can live on what's left. Can I give you a bonus point? Live on what's left. See, when you're in a pouring season, that season where you're fighting for your life and you just keep your head down, you keep pouring. You pour when you're tired. You pour when you feel like no one notices. You pour when everyone else's kids are.
Acting right but yours.
You pour when your friend gets pregnant by accident, but you still can't get pregnant on purpose. You pour when someone else gets the promotion. You pour when you need a healing.
In your own body. And the next thing you know, you made it through another day. You don't know how, but you did. And one day you turn around and you've got a pantry full of oil to live on. Live on what's left?
Remember that Bible study that I wrote for the women of our church when we were in the pandemic? My husband and I were just praying about how we could help people during this time. Like, what else could we do? I said, well, I have this little Bible study. So we sent out a message on Facebook, and thousands of women from all over the world responded. And for eight weeks, every Tuesday night, they joined me live, and we studied how to be a godly wife. Somehow you made it through those dark days. But now you see all along, through the pain and the confusion and. And the heartache you've been stockpiling.
She lost her husband.
She's not gonna get her husband back. But she had something left to live on. Oh, oh, here's that friendship that I made sitting in chemo treatments. And here's the verse that God gave me when I was crying on the couch. And here's. Here's the song that I listen to every single day for months.
And every time I hear that song, it just reminds me of the faithfulness of God.
And oh, oh, here's that gratitude journal where I learned how to look for the little blessings.
Now I get to live on what's left.
A million little miracles. Don't be afraid of the empty spaces, because empty is where God does his best work.
Hey, thanks for watching.
I hope that that encouraged you today. Make sure that you subscribe so that you don't miss out on other videos like this, and I'll see you back here next time.
