Today, I was in the middle of finalizing plans to acquire a Kenyan passport because the end of this year and next year will require me to travel quite a bit. And so, I found myself contemplating which passport size would be suitable.
We all know how our minds work sometimes; we naturally lean toward the cheaper option. I was seriously considering the least-page option because, honestly, I didn’t imagine my travel stamps would ever surpass 32 pages. I mean, it’s either one country here and another one there. I had already put a limit to myself.
Then, all of a sudden, God dropped the story of the widow of Zarephath in my spirit. And I could almost sense God saying, “Make sure that when I pour out My blessings, the vessels aren’t the limit.”
I could go for the least number of pages, only for God to surpass my expectations and suddenly, there comes the limit. And it struck me: sometimes we don’t realize that we have already decided how much we can accommodate before God has even begun to pour.
Look at the widow of Zarephath in 2 Kings 4:1–7. The blessing wasn’t the problem. The oil was available. The problem was the vessels that would carry the oil. Elisha told her to go and borrow empty vessels from her neighbours, and he specifically said, “Do not gather just a few” (2 Kings 4:3). As long as there were vessels, the oil kept flowing. When the vessels ran out, the oil stopped (2 Kings 4:6).
What if God is telling you right now, in this season, to borrow vessels? What if God isn’t withholding the blessing you have been praying for, but you are actually in a season of collecting vessels? What if this season is about building capacity for what you have been asking God to pour into your life?
Maybe the vessel is your preparation. Maybe it is your character. Maybe it is your skill, your discipline, your relationships, your knowledge, your faith, your finances, or even your willingness to step into spaces you have never occupied before. Perhaps God is enlarging you before He enlarges what He is placing in your hands.
There is a reason Scripture says, “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes” (Isaiah 54:2). Notice the language: enlarge, stretch, lengthen, strengthen. God was speaking about making room.
And He often tells us to prepare beforehand. Noah built the ark before the rain came (Genesis 6:14–22). Joseph stored grain before the famine came (Genesis 41:33–36, 47–49). The wise virgins prepared their oil before the bridegroom arrived (Matthew 25:1–13).
So perhaps you shouldn’t only be praying, “God, pour.” Perhaps you should also be asking, “God, what vessels should I be collecting?”
Because the level of your preparedness in collecting vessels may determine how much you are able to carry when the oil begins to flow.
Don’t let your limited imagination become the container for what God is capable of doing. Scripture says He “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).
So prepare. Enlarge. Stretch. Strengthen. Make room.
Make sure you collect enough vessels.
