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Brenda Bradford Ottinger

Encouraging Women to Live Rooted in the Sacred

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When You Feel Like You’re Not Enough

I’m a woman of habit, so every morning, like a playlist on repeat, I make the bed, shower and dash downstairs to the automated grace that brews my cup of caffeine.

One morning, as the water ran low in my single-serve brewer, I thought, Oh, how my weary spirit can relate. I, too, felt like I was running low—low on time, skill and energy to pour into the people and places God had called me to flow into. Perhaps I don’t have enough….am not enough to make a difference.

But as I refilled the reservoir on my brewer, pouring water into the tank while the brewer simultaneously splashed tea into my mug, I noticed the water level in the tank remained unchanged. Even though the machine was withdrawing water to fill my cup, the water pouring in restored the water pouring out.

Immediately, my mind chased the biblical story of the widow’s flowing oil jar. A distraught widow approached the prophet Elisha with news that her husband, the household provider, had died, and creditors were looming. The only valuable possession she had left was a flask of olive oil.

“And Elisha said, ‘Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.’ So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim!” (2 Kings 4:3-6, NLT)

What a wonder it must have been for that widow to pour and pour while the oil level in her meager flask remained unchanged! Yet abundance didn’t flow from her flask until she lifted it up in faith and poured.

The Lord could have commanded Elisha to produce a bounty of oil for this widow in need, yet instead God chose to pour into her jar as she faithfully showed up and poured out.

Trusting God, she filled every borrowed jar from her humble vessel, selling the oil to pay off her debts, with enough money left to support her family. (2 Kings 4:7)

Much like that widow assessing the meager resources she had for her family, all too often I can feel that what I have to offer is insufficient. But that morning, God reminded me that my lack is ample means for His measure.

You see, as we lift up the small vessels of our lives in faith, trusting they’re more than enough for our big God to use—just as the Lord poured oil into the widow’s jar while she simultaneously poured out—He pours His abundance into us as we pour it out into the world.

Believing our modest offering is enough can sometimes feel unnatural, as it presses us to move beyond comfort and perceptions. That impoverished widow exercised faith when she risked disgrace and discomfort, asking her neighbors for multiple empty jars without having obvious means to fill them. Yet she wasn’t distracted by notions of inadequacy or comparison.

Friend, even when it feels like everyone else has an overflow of all we seemingly lack — when we feel empty of ability, opportunity or means — may our faith inform our feelings, for our God is able!

We need not rely on our own power or perceived enough-ness; rather, let’s rightly place our faith in the God who is able to do infinitely more than we can ask or think. (Ephesians 3:20)

For when we make ourselves available vessels for Him, He pours the fullness of His measure into us as we pour His love out into the world.

In what areas do you feel you’re not enough right now, friend?
Remind your feelings that your God is able!
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Proverbs 31 Ministries
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Many a time in life I’ve felt I was standing at Many a time in life I’ve felt I was standing at the edge of a sea, hemmed in by its boundary, unable to discern a path forward.
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If this feels familiar, friend, I have the sweetest of news…
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God has not misplaced His plan for your life.
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Our great God is not bound by limitation. His roads can cross right through our seas, on pathways no one knew were there! 🙌
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Oh friend, may you rest quietly before your God at the water’s edge, trusting Him to bring you to a place of abundance.
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The mighty waters of your circumstances are no match for His power, His heart, His purpose.
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You’re not alone, for He goes before you, ordering unique pathways along His timeline—all for you, my friend.
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Set your every hope into the tender palm of God and walk in freedom, for He is able. 💕
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Friend, no matter what you’ve been through…hea Friend, no matter what you’ve been through…healing isn’t hopeless.
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So often it can feel easier to tamp hurt upon hurt deep into our spirits, than to do a new thing.
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But, friend, our God is a God of fresh beginnings who makes pathways through the wilderness and steams in the desert. (Isaiah 43:19)
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You don’t walk alone, for His kindness and faithfulness walk with you through it all.
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This book _Good Boundaries and Goodbyes_ by @lysaterkeurst is a beautifully honest resource for learning to understand & create healthy, Godly boundaries in our lives.
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If you’re looking for a good resource to begin forming healthy boundaries, or are looking for help to understand others’ healthy boundaries, this book is a great place to start.
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I have an extra copy I’d love to give away. Leave me a comment on Instagram if you’d like to be entered to win.
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Also, OBS (Online Bible Study) is beginning a free online community study of this book January 23rd. If you’d like to sign up, head over to proverbs31.org.
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May this be a stream in your desert, dear friend, the dawn of a beautiful new thing God’s set apart for you. 💕
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About 5-6 years ago I started doing this thing tha About 5-6 years ago I started doing this thing that, at the time, didn’t feel like anything radical or life-changing.
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I simply started trying to stop eating around 7pm, and not start eating again until 11am.
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At the time, I’d never even heard the term “intermittent fasting;” I was just trying this new-to-me thing to help with weight management.
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Over time, I learned that what I was doing was called intermittent fasting, and that it has health benefits well beyond the weight management realm.
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(Search the word “autophagy” if you’re interested in learning more about that.)
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I’m not gonna lie, back when I started, 7pm to 11am was hard! It took some time, and I didn’t always do it “perfectly.”
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These days, I typically go from 6-7pm to 1-2pm. My body has adapted and most days it’s very easy. Often, I’d fast longer except that I take supplements that keep me awake at night if I take them too late in the day.
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Yes, I came to intermittent fasting for the weight loss. (30 pounds has long been gone.) But, I stay because I’ve never felt better. Allowing my body the restorative time each day has been a game-changer for me.
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For a few weeks now, I’ve been feeling like I’m supposed to share this…like someone needs to hear it.
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If that’s you, friend, I want you to know that it’s not as hard as it seems. Start as slowly as you need to. Add another hour or 30 minutes, or even 15 minutes per week until your body adapts.
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There’s no right or wrong. There are no bad days. It’s a lifestyle of freedom. You can switch it all up when you need to or want to for social reasons. It’s easier than it seems.
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I’m no doctor. I’m not medically advising. I’m just a girl who has always longed to make a difference, so I share in hopes of helping.
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No matter what your goals are this year, whether they’re health or relational or work related, it’s okay to go slow. It’s okay to get off track by January 10th and start over again.
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All is progress, my friend. Baby steps count. 💕
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As I sit here, now seven days into being sick, I s As I sit here, now seven days into being sick, I search for words of hope and inspiration to meet us here on this beautiful fresh ground called 2023.
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Words and energy may escape me, but, as we tip-toe into this newborn year—I wish you adventure and abundance, goodness and growth, peace and every joy this year, dear friend.
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It’ll go by fast, 2023. Let’s make some memories and leave it better than we found it. 💕
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