Empty Containers

An ancient story tells about a widow who was left in debt after her husband died.  She had only a small jar of oil to her name and the creditors were coming to take her two sons away to sell into slavery. The woman asked the local prophet what she should do - 'go to your neighbours and and collect as many empty clay jars as you can' was his answer.  

At this point in time, I would have been questioning - what use are borrowed empty jars? The secret to this strategy is what the empty jars represented - they were physical expressions of possibility.  Put another way, they were containers that were ready to be filled.  

Life proceeds through seasons and some seasons are more productive than others. But productive seasons will only benefit you and your dream when you have prepared containers to hold the opportunities that come your way. 

So what are some examples of 'empty containers'?

1) How about telling some key people about your dream? Their advice or connections may result in unexpected resources flowing your way.

2) Rather than staking everything on one idea, try to develop other alternatives to move your dream forward. You never know which idea will be the one that moves you forward.  

"In the morning plant your seeds. In the evening keep your hands busy. You don't know what will succeed. It may be one or the other. Or both might do equally well."

3) Prepare a funding proposal. There is lots of money out there for good ideas. I will talk more about the opportunity to apply for grants in an upcoming post. But for now, just the process of preparing a funding proposal will help get you ready to attract the resources you need.

The story about the widow in debt ended well. Once she had collected many jars she went into her house and closed the door. She started pouring the oil from her small jar into the empty jars and the oil kept flowing until all the empty jars she had collected were full. Then it stopped. She sold the oil and paid off the debt.