Once I was driving and I was some distance from home. I looked down at the gas needle and realised that I was close to empty. Based on the circumstances, I needed more gas to get home with no gas station or money in sight, and so I prayed asking the Lord for help. I kid you not. I watched the gas needle go in the opposite direction going towards a full tank!!! Only God !!! In the Scriptures, God loves to first empty, then fill and transform people and their circumstances. You might be curious about to what I mean. Here are a couple of examples.

Remember Jesus at the wedding celebration in Cana (John 2)! The wine supply had run out during the festivities. How can you say nada, sin vino, no wine, when festivities required wine. Jesus’ mother discerned the pending embarrassment the couple and their families would face so she told Jesus “They have no more wine”. Mary knew that this festivity of emptiness and nothingness could only be transformed by the living power of God in Jesus. Notice that despite Jesus’ protest, her words to the servants were “Do whatever he tells you to do”. The most fascinating part for me was Jesus telling the servants to fill the six (6) jars with seventy five (75) to one hundred & thirteen (113) liters with water! These empty jars were originally to be filled for ceremonial washing. Imagine the transformation of use from water washing to wedding wine. Once the jars were filled, Jesus told them to dip, take some out and carry to the Master of Ceremonies. Hear his remarks to the bridegroom “…you have kept the best until now”. From empty jar to be filled with water to being transformed into wine. Wow! Reflect on this! Know that when we are at the end of ourselves, facing embarrassment of emptiness and nothingness that God turns our emptiness into water and transform us into the best wine to be used for God’s glory.

Dr. Luke recorded in Luke 7, another story of emptiness, filling and transforming. Here we are told about the funeral procession for a young man who was a widow’s only son. Notice her only son. My eyes are welling up with tears as I speak. By telling us she was a widow, Luke was showing her initial emptiness having lost her husband in a male dominated culture. However, when her husband died, she had the company of her only young son who could defend her rights and property. Then tragedy struck and she lost her only son! What can be empty like double grief? When you have lost loved ones, your pain can drives you to a place of loneliness, emptiness and nothingness and this widow lost husband and son! It is at this empty dead intersection when the widow was coming out of the Nain village gate with her large funeral crowd, that at that precise moment Jesus was coming into the village with his large crowd. Look at the timing! She was going out with her death & emptiness and Jesus was coming in with His Life and fullness. No wonder Jesus saw her!! He saw her emptiness and it caused his heart to “overflowed with compassion” or empathy. Stick a pin here. Does a person’s emptiness drive us to empathy? Jesus’ empathy resulted in action and transformed this widow’s situation in several ways. Firstly, he said “Don’t Cry”, that is, Stop! I have seen your emptiness and grief and I am going to fill it. Secondly, he walked over to the coffin and touched it and risked being seen as ritually unclean (Lev.21). By touching the dead Jesus was saying He was bigger than the ritual, he is the Creator that can turn the dead into the living. Thirdly, he spoke to the young man in his dead state: “Young man! Get up, I tell you!” The young dead boy not only sat up but began to talk. Jesus spoke his life giving energy into the spirit of the empty lifeless body to bring him into being a fully energised young man. Finally, Jesus filled the empty arms of the widow with her son and brought back not only her hopes and dreams but the people who were filled with awe and praises to God.

What about us? Are we empty, needing to be filled and transformed? God wants to breathe on us and fill our emptiness with his life energising Spirit. This will transform us and the world around us. Notice that with Jesus’ words the festivities had the best wine and the widow got her only son back. The crowd is waiting on us to display God’s power and purpose so they can be filled with awe and praises to God.

Prayer

Lord and Father, we come to you empty, needing filling and transformation. Forgive us when we doubt your ability to raise us up from the dead and transform our empty circumstances to be life giving best ever situations. Fill us now with your Holy Spirit and transform from death to life. In Jesus’ name we pray Amen.