Written by Gbenga Omolehinwa
Adapted from the Living in the Overflow message series by Pastor Funmi Obilana
The word "OVERFLOW" can be described as "an excess or superabundance". God wants His people to experience the overflow in every aspect of our lives. God wants us to have an excess of all good things. He wants us to have an abundance beyond imagination.
It is important that we understand the mind of God concerning the overflow. The Scriptures are loaded with examples of God's intention for his people to have more than enough - enough for ourselves and enough for others.
The Master (the Lord Jesus Christ) said "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)." (John 10:10 AMP). From this verse in the Amplified version of the Bible, despite the terrible intentions of the thief (the devil), we are assured of the good intentions of the Lord concerning us -
1. Jesus came that we may have and enjoy life,
2. The Master wants us to have this enjoyable life in abundance - to the full, till it overflows.
According to God's Word, ". . . God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation]." (2 Corinthians 9:8 AMP). Wow!
Furthermore, the Bible says "Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]"-- (Ephesians 3:20 AMP).
Simply put, our God is a God of the overflow!
Since we have established that God wants us to walk in the overflow, I believe the question now is "how can I access this overflow"? In response to this question, let's take a look at some of the characteristics associated with a life of overflow:
O - Obedience
V - Victorious mindset
E - Empowerment
R - Rest
F - Faith
L - Love
O - Offering
W - Wisdom
O - Obedience
For us to experience the overflow, we must be ready to obey God in every way. It is not enough for us to be willing - we must be obedient too (Isaiah 1:19). Are you struggling with total obedience to the Lord? I have great news for you - it's not by power or might but by God's Spirit (Zechariah 4:6) because God is the One who works in us both to do and to will for His good pleasure (Phillipians 2:13).
In 2 Kings 4:1-7, we are informed of a widow whose late husband had been in debt before his passing away. She approached the Prophet Elisha who gave her specific instructions to follow. She obeyed and was able to pay the inherited debt and had extra for not just herself to live on but also her sons.
In Deuteronomy 28:1-13, the Lord set out the condition for His blessings as obedience. One of those blessings or benefits of obedience is that "The Lord shall open to you His good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow." (Deuteronomy 28:12 AMP). Imagine being in a position where we lend to MANY nations! It is possible. It is the desire of God for us. However, we must first be fully obedient to Him.
V - Victorious mindset
The Bible says we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37). This means that we were designed by God to not just win but win resoundingly or overflowingly. Our minds need to be renewed with this reality in the areas of our lives where there are doubts about how successful or victorious we will turn out.
According to 1 John 5:4-5, we were designed to overcome or be victorious in life. A mind filled with memories of past failures or disappointment is not likely to access the overflow. We need a victorious mindset that God will always show up for us irrespective of what we are faced with. This was the mindset that David had according to 1 Samuel 17:32-37 and he became victorious in the face of great adversity. The Bible records that the reward attached to David's victorious mindset was such that even his father's house was impacted positively - a blessing over and above what he alone could enjoy (1 Samuel 17:25).
E - Empowerment
The Bible says ". . . you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." (Psalms 23:5 ESV). From God's Word, we understand that oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit - "Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah. (1 Samuel 16:13 AMP). Therefore, the presence of the Holy Spirit who empowers us (Luke 24:49) is necessary to access God's unique overflow.
After the disciples were baptized with the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:1-4, the early church experienced such an overflow that thousands of people were added to the family of God on the very first day of that encounter with God's Spirit! (Acts 2:41). In our generation, we need a similar empowerment as we recall that without the Lord, we can do nothing (John 15:5).
R - RestAccording to John 6:1-13, we see a miracle of Jesus that clearly demonstrates the overflowing power of God. From this miracle, we understand that thousands were fed with five loaves and two fish - to their satisfaction and there were leftover fragments enough to fill twelve baskets afterwards! One thing that strikes me about this miracle is one of the things that preceded the overflow. Before the overflow, Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." (John 6:10 ESV). God wants us to "sit down" or rest whenever He is at work in our lives. He wants our lives to be free from fear (2 Timothy 1:7) and anxiety (Phillipians 4:6). When we are rested, we can provoke the overflow.
Psalm 23:2 says "He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters" (AMP) and later in verse 5 of the same Psalm, we see the associated overflow - ". . . my [brimming] cup runs over." (Psalm 23:5 AMP).
F - Faith2 Kings 5:1-14 gives us the account of how a man called Naaman received more than he had expected - an overflow. According to verse 10, Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean" (2 Kings 5:10 ESV). When Naaman finally followed this instruction, the Bible says his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child! (2 Kings 5:14) - an overflow of God's healing power which allowed a grown man to have the flesh of a little child.
Central to the above overflow was faith - demonstrated at 3 levels:
1. The little maid who attended to Naaman's wife - "She said to her mistress, "Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." (2 Kings 5:3 ESV)
2. The man of God (Prophet Elisha) - "But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel." (2 Kings 5:8 ESV)
3. Naaman, the recipient of the overflow, despite his initial hesitation - "So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." (2 Kings 5:14 ESV)
L - Love
In 1 Samuel 30:1-25, we read of how David and his men recovered more than they had originally lost - an overflow. Such was the overflow, that David was able to share with a long list of friends! (1 Samuel 30:26-31).
Before David and his men experienced the overflow, the Bible records that they showed love to a complete stranger - "They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink, and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights." (1 Samuel 30:11, 12 ESV). It was through this act of genuine or sincere love that they were able to get vital information which connected them with their overflow.
Also, God demonstrated His love by giving us Jesus (John 3:16) - an act of love that continues to produce an overflow of sons for the kingdom till this day!
O - Offering
The Bible says "Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. (Proverbs 3:9, 10 ESV).
Additionally, "give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you." (Luke 6:38 ESV)
From the two Scriptures above, we see that our offering - offering of time, talent and treasure - provokes the overflow.
This is further supported by 1 Kings 17:8-16 where a widow experienced an overflow during a season of famine due to her act of giving first to God's servant before giving to herself and her son. The Bible records that ". . . she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah." (1 Kings 17:15, 16 ESV).
W - Wisdom
Concerning Solomon, the Bible says "And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore" (1 Kings 4:29 ESV). As a result of this wisdom, we are told "And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom" (1 Kings 4:34 ESV).
From the two accounts of Solomon above, we understand how the wisdom of God upon a man's life attracted such a multitude of men and kings - an overflow. As we seek God's wisdom which is freely given (James 1:5), we should expect an overflow of men into our lives - men from different backgrounds and with possibly different challenges seeking for answers to life's questions. Let's get ready - because the overflow is coming!
In conclusion, God richly provides us with everything to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17). My desire is that we will fulfill the conditions for experiencing the overflow.
