Grace poured out and overflowing

I love the example that our pastor once used to describe how grace works in our lives.  He placed a small empty bowl inside of a larger empty bowl.  Then he took a pitcher full of water and poured it into the smaller bowl until it overflowed into the larger bowl.  The water eventually filled both bowls to overflowing.

The smaller bowl symbolizes me, and the larger bowl symbolizes those around me; my family, friends, community…  The water symbolizes grace, poured out for us, into us, around us.  If the water is allowed to fill the smaller bowl it will inevitably overflow into the larger bowl and so on.  This is how grace works.

When I open myself to accept God’s grace, I am emptied more and more of myself and filled with more and more of Him and his grace.  When I am filled, then the overflow can reach others in my life.  Until then, I am simply trying to give to others what I do not possess for myself.  We can only bless others out of the overflow - it is God working through us - it is not our own power, our own grace. Grace doesn't originate with us - we are only instruments that grace can pass through for our benefit and others.  If we are open to grace, it fills us up and overflows as intended, but if we are closed to receiving grace, trying to "do it all" in our own power, it may be poured over us, around us and we may be standing or swimming in grace but we won't be affected by it until we open ourselves up to it and allow it to work in us and through us.  

There's a supernatural power at work when we cooperate with grace flowing through us, it's a strange phenomenon that the more we surrender, the more God can use us.