Oil is never produced in comfort. Olive oil only comes through crushing. The olives are pressed, squeezed, and broken until what is hidden inside is finally released. There is no shortcut, no gentle alternative, no way to bypass the pressure and still call it oil.

Your anointing was born the same way.

Every betrayal.

Every silent night.

Every tear you cried when no one saw.

Every season where you kept serving while bleeding.

Every moment you whispered “Yes, Lord” when your flesh longed to say “No.”

None of it was wasted. All of it mattered.

That was God pressing oil out of you.

You did not receive this mantle cheaply. You did not step into this assignment easily. What Heaven entrusted to you came at a cost your soul remembers, even when your mouth has grown quiet about it.

This is why not everyone understands your praise. They see the oil. They do not see the crushing. They witness the worship, but they never walked through the nights that taught you how to kneel.

There are things God places inside a person that do not come cheaply. Your anointing has a cost. Your worship carries a story. Your oil holds a journey that only Heaven fully understands.

When we think of the alabaster box, we often picture Mary breaking the jar and pouring out the costly fragrance on Jesus. What is easy to forget is this truth: before the oil ever touched His feet, it had already cost her everything. The sacrifice began long before the moment of worship.

People will always judge what they did not pay for.

Judas criticised Mary. The disciples questioned her. The room murmured with misunderstanding and offence. Yet the only One she was pouring it out on defended her.

Why?🤔

Because only Jesus knew the price behind her worship.

People who never paid for your oil will call it wasteful. People who never carried your cross will say your devotion is too much. People who never survived your wilderness will label your obedience dramatic.

Still, the Lord speaks over you the same words He spoke over her:

Your oil may offend people, but it blesses Heaven.

Your worship is not excessive. It is honest.

Your obedience is not dramatic. It is forged.

Your praise is not loud without reason. It carries the weight of survival, surrender, and love poured out at His feet.

Jesus knows the cost. Heaven remembers the crushing. What you offer Him has never gone unnoticed.

💡Reflection:

• Where has God been pressing oil out of me through unseen seasons? 🤔

• Whose opinions have I allowed to make me question the value of my worship? 🤔

• What has my obedience cost me, and how has God met me there? 🤔

• In what ways is my praise a response to survival, not performance? 🤔

🎺Affirmation:

My oil is sacred, my worship is costly, and my obedience is beautiful to God. Heaven knows the price I paid, and Jesus receives my offering with delight.

🙌 Prayer:

Lord Jesus, You alone know the cost behind my worship. You saw the nights, the tears, the obedience that felt hidden and heavy. Help me release the need to be understood and anchor my heart in Your approval alone. Receive my oil, shaped through surrender and love, and let it bless Your heart. Teach me to worship without apology and obey without fear.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.