Any true abiding of the spirit of God must be preceded by emptying.
In other words, the first condition of God’s filling is emptiness. I told my dear Mufasa that while I am still in awe of all God has done and continues to do in my life, I now see that my gross dissatisfaction with my life stemmed from an acute realization that I did not have enough God in me. I was done with just ‘getting by’ as a woman of God. I was no longer content with seeing just God’s hands, I want to see his face. I want to see his face so close that I will be able to feel his breath fanning my cheeks. So in this season of my life especially after all that God has done for me recently, I am desperately seeking emptiness. So that I can get more God in me.
And I am being extremely stubborn and deliberate about it. I have set daily appointments with God and I am keeping them by fire and by force and I know they are paying off. Telling you here is not to brag. It is to cast it in stone so I am accountable. You know how when you give your life to Christ, you are encouraged to tell someone right away. It is something like that. I don’t know if like me, you want more of God in you but in case you do, let me share with you something he told me about this emptying process.
Just believe that when you ask God to do this, He is doing it. His spirit asks that we believe even when nothing is seen or felt. Just believe that the Fountain of Living Water is welling up inside of you and that as you continue the emptying process, God’s love, joy and peace will begin to bubble up out of you. Believe even when all feels and appears dry. Remember, you don’t have to see the rain for the valleys to be filled with water.
That’s why I am emptying myself. Salt must decrease so that Christ can increase. God has already told me that just like too much salt ruins food, ‘too much of me’ will ruin my life so to speak. When we obsess about ourselves, we are unable to stay our mind on God and what he wants to do in, through and for us.
So will you join me on this ‘emptying’ journey? I hope so. I promise it will be worth your while. You know, I did not feel anything when I started but I can honestly say that somehow now, I feel change is on its way and I am excited……….
In this second quarter of 2014, as long as I get out of God’s way, I know ‘my Greater will come’. And so will yours.
Bola Essien-Nelson (aka Salt) is a blogger/author based in Lagos, Nigeria. You can connect with her via her blog – The Salt Chronicles on Blogger where she is ‘seasoning’ the world around her one salt blog at a time.
