Learning to Yield to the Spirit

Why spiritual change requires more than good habits
I learned this lesson the hard way, behind the wheel of someone else’s truck.
There’s a light on your dashboard that most of us have learned to ignore. The check oil light. It comes on, and you tell yourself, I’ll get to it. The car is still running. You’re still moving. Everything seems fine.
That’s what I thought too. Until I wasn’t fine.

I was driving my uncle’s work truck on the freeway when the engine overheated. Suddenly there was smoke, panic, and the unmistakable sound of something expensive breaking. I had gas in the tank. The battery was working. But I had ignored the oil. And without oil, friction takes over. You can keep going for a while, but not far.

That image has stayed with me because it mirrors the spiritual life more than we’d like to admit.

You can have the right beliefs. You can attend church. You can read Scripture. You can even do many of the right things. But without something else, there will be friction in your soul. You’ll move forward for a season, but eventually something overheats. Something stalls. Something breaks.

Blueprints, Roots, and Oil
In the book of Zechariah, God gives His people a vision at a moment when they are stuck.
They’ve returned from exile. They’ve laid the foundation for rebuilding the temple. And then everything stops. Opposition rises. Resources thin out. The work stalls, and all that remains is a foundation and a mountain of rubble.
Instead of giving them a new strategy meeting, God gives them a vision.
Zechariah sees a golden lampstand, the kind that would stand in the temple to represent God’s presence. Normally, priests had to keep refilling it with oil. But in this vision, something strange happens. Two olive trees stand beside the lampstand, and oil flows directly from the trees into the lamps. No human effort. No interruption. Just a steady, living supply.
Then comes the word that anchors the whole vision: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.”
Blueprints matter. Roots matter. Structure matters. But oil matters too.
Without oil, even the best-designed system eventually grinds itself down.

What Oil Really Represents
In Scripture, oil is never just oil. It is a physical sign of a spiritual reality. It represents the presence of God, the Spirit of God.
In Zechariah 4, the word used for oil doesn’t describe something stored up or reused. It means fresh oil. Newly pressed. Living. Flowing.
That detail matters.
God is showing His people that His presence was never meant to be rationed or managed like a limited resource. It was meant to flow. Constantly. Sustainably. Directly from the source.
You can’t manufacture the Spirit. You can’t earn Him. You can’t schedule Him into submission. You can build rhythms, habits, and structures, and those are good. But none of them can replace the need for fresh oil.
You can do all the right things and still feel an increasing friction inside.

Indwelling and Filling
The New Testament helps us understand this more clearly by making a distinction we often overlook.
There is the indwelling of the Spirit. When you put your faith in Jesus, God gives you His Spirit. You are sealed. Marked. Claimed. You belong to Him.
But Scripture also speaks about being filled with the Spirit. And that language is not past tense. It’s ongoing. Continual. Be filled. Keep being filled.
This isn’t about getting more of God. It’s about yielding more of yourself.
The filling of the Spirit is not about power you possess. It’s about posture you adopt. It’s about alignment. Surrender. Allowing yourself to be led.
That’s why the same disciples who were filled with the Spirit in Acts 2 are filled again in Acts 4. God is not changing. They are. Over and over again.
Oil flows where there is yield.

Why Friction Shows Up
Many of us come to faith and then quietly shift into self-reliance.
We start trying to live the Christian life in our own strength. We read the Bible. We attend church. We work on our habits. We try harder to be patient, forgiving, loving, faithful.
And slowly, frustration grows.
You wonder why change feels unsustainable. Why obedience feels heavy. Why joy feels distant. Why old patterns keep resurfacing.
The problem is not that God has withdrawn. And it’s not that you’re failing at the formula.
It’s that spiritual practices were never meant to make you strong. They were meant to help you yield.
There is no such thing as a strong Christian. There are only Christians who have learned how weak they are and how faithful God is.
You don’t overcome by powering up. You overcome by opening up.

From Leaders to a People
In the Old Testament, oil was poured on a few. Kings. Priests. Prophets. They were anointed for the sake of the people.
But even Zechariah’s vision hints that something bigger is coming.
The two olive trees represent leaders in that moment, Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest. But later Scripture widens the lens. God promises to pour out His Spirit on all people. Sons and daughters. Young and old. Servants and leaders alike.
By the time we reach the New Testament, the normal Christian life is this: indwelt by the Spirit, filled again and again by the Spirit, and called by the Spirit.
Every anointing is for a purpose. Every filling is for service.
Which means this isn’t just about your inner peace.

Oil Is for Building
The Spirit is not given only so you can feel better. He is given so God can build something through you.
Scripture says we are being built together into a dwelling place for God. Not individually upgraded, but collectively formed.
This is where many of us quietly resist.
We want transformation without responsibility. Filling without calling. Oil without a plumb line in our hands.
But maturity in Christ is inseparable from participation in His work. You are not just being built up. You are invited to build.
God doesn’t wait until you feel ready. He delights in the day of small beginnings. He rejoices when His people simply pick up the tools and say yes.
You don’t need to have it all together. No one does. God supplies the oil. He asks for availability.

Receiving Fresh Oil
So how do we live this?
First, we pray simply and honestly: Holy Spirit, I yield to You. Fill me again.
Not once. Not occasionally. Again and again.
Second, we step into what God is building. We stop treating the church as a place we attend and begin living as a people we belong to. We offer our time, our gifts, our presence. We pick up the plumb line.
That’s where many of us experience fresh oil without even realizing it. The Spirit flows as we align ourselves with God’s purposes, not just our preferences.
You were never meant to run on empty while doing everything right.
Oil is available. Fresh oil. For the long road.

Reflect:
Where are you trying to live the Christian life in your own strength instead of yielding to the Spirit?

Practice:
This week, begin each day with one simple prayer: “Holy Spirit, I yield myself to You. Fill me today.” Then take one small step toward serving or building up someone else.