Back to the Oil: When Joy Returns Through Obedience
This week, I had to sit with some hard truths. I realized Iāve been investing in things that donāt actually help me pour the jar of oil God gave me. Like many of us, I fell into shiny object syndrome, thinking, if I just take this course, buy this program, follow this strategy⦠maybe this will be the thing that finally works. Some of it was good. Some of it helped for a season. But a few weeks ago, I asked God why I still felt stuck. Why, after all the investments, did it still feel like I wasnāt moving? And He whispered, āBecause youāre not pouring the jar of oil I actually gave you.ā I stopped. Looked at the books on my shelf. The unfinished manuscripts. The messages Iād buried. And it hit me, I wasnāt writing consistently. I wasnāt stewarding the one thing that had always brought me joy, impact, and even income. So I made a decision. Iām disconnecting from anything that doesnāt help me pour. From now on, itās just YouTube, writing, and book funnels. Everything else? It can wait. Because Iāve spent too many years starting and stopping, stretching myself in ten different directions, hoping one of them would be the breakthrough. But now I know, I donāt need ten things. I need one thing, done faithfully. And for me, thatās books. Helping authors. Marketing what God gave me. Thatās my oil. Even the joy returned as I helped an author publish their second book this week. I also had to confront the doubt. But maybe the doubt wasnāt just the enemy. Maybe the reason I couldnāt fully believe⦠was because I was trying to force oil out of something that wasnāt my jar. Sometimes we feel frustrated because weāre asking God to bless something He never told us to pour. But the moment I aligned with the oil He actually gave me? Joy returned. So hereās my challenge to you: 1. Make a list of everything youāre trying to do right now. 2. Ask yourself: āWhy am I doing this? Is it bringing joy or just pressure?ā 3. What doubt or unbelief arise when I think about doing this jar of oil? 4. Find the one thing you can do with peace and consistency, even if it doesnāt make money right away. 5. Then decide: Iām going to stay here. Not for 90 days. Not until itās hard. But until it multiplies.