Start Where You Are: A Journey of Stewardship and GenerositySample

Over the next three days, you’ll watch a powerful video story split into three parts. Each day includes a short video segment, a devotional thought, and Bible passages to help you reflect and apply what you’ve learned. Dana’s story—and the stories of those she serves—show us that no matter where we are in life, God can begin a new journey of stewardship and generosity right now.

Day 1: When You Have Nothing Left

Sometimes life falls apart in ways we never imagined. Dana had spent years in ministry, yet when her finances collapsed and she turned to opioids to numb the pain, she found herself incarcerated. Sitting in jail, surrounded by darkness, God spoke into her brokenness with a new calling: to return and bring hope to others.

This is not unlike the widow in 2 Kings 4:1–7, who cried out in desperation because her husband had died and creditors were coming to enslave her sons. She had nothing left but a small jar of oil. To anyone else, it would have seemed too little to matter. But when she obeyed God’s instruction through Elisha, that little became the key to her miracle.

God often begins His work of transformation when we feel completely empty. He asks us to offer what little we have—our time, our resources, our willingness—and trust Him to multiply it. Dana’s “oil” was her testimony, her faith, and her willingness to return to the jail. What she thought was the end of her story became the beginning of a ministry that is now changing lives.

When you feel like you have nothing left, God is not finished. What you surrender to Him can become the seed of something greater than you imagine.

Reflection Question:
What “jar of oil” do you have in your life right now—something small God could use if you surrendered it to Him?