Running on Empty

Have you ever experienced running out of gas? Literally driving along and pleading with the car to give you a few more feet….PLEASE…just a few more feet! Except when you’re out, you’re out! Or how about when your brain has been running low on energy…like cramming for finals in college. Come on brain, you can do it!!! Keep going….just a little more information to cram in…Just a Little More! And once again, when you’re done, you’re done. Complete and utter exhaustion! We have trouble keeping our heads up, eyes open and feet moving. Our minds and body need to rest and be refilled! So we run to the refrigerator and seek food, run to bed to seek sleep, run to a comfortable place to see solitude. Refill and regenerate. And then we are able to get back to the task at hand and finish or keep going.

So what if the task at hand is life and there isn’t a designated “end point” that you are trying to finish (like a test or work project or goal). You just have to keep going whether you are on empty or not.

What if you are running low physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually? That’s enough to knock anyone to their feet and not want to get back up. This is where I was Friday and Saturday. Brought to the point where I didn’t want to care about anything anymore. I couldn’t think straight. My body didn’t want to do anything! Exhausted in every aspect!

Something important has to happen at this point. Perseverance and Faith. On Saturday morning I read my morning devotional about this very thing. Will also talked about this a bit in his blog recently (http://wbt4.blogspot.com). But I want to hit it from a different angle. The angle of how you refill…re-energize…get back to full working condition.

The verse that I'd like to focus with is 2 Corinthians 4:16 - "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."

It's so easy to lose heart along our daily path when we face the issues and problems that come at us and even stick around. We want to set everything down and walk away! Our eyes and mind see only what we face, not what is on the other side when things are over. A blindness in a way takes over. A spiritual blindness in which we are focused on the world and the issues we face instead of God's purpose in the situation or because of the outcome of the situation.

What we have to do is go to God for the refill in these times! Not just do our best to get through them alive and then pray for regeneration! We say..."If I can just get to Friday, I'll be able to rest"..."If I can get this paper/project done, I can focus on something else"..."I need to get things straight with me before I add someone else to my life." This is just such a common subject. I was saying these very things this past week..."If I can just get through the competition Saturday, I'll be good"....but then i found myself saying after the competition on Sat..."If i can just get through the Art Awards dinner on Tuesday I'll be Great for the rest on the school year."

Today, Monday, two days after the competition I should have, theoretically, been rested and good for the rest of the school year. And was I? Nope, not at all. Why? Because there is always something else to "get through". It's a shame that this is what consumes our minds. These tasks and events to "get through". These tasks that when they are over and done, we assume will be the key to a stress release. Really?

If we read on in 2 Corinthians 4 verses 17-18 we read - "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

We are not to let these momentary and (I really love this) temporary things drive us day by day. We are to go to God with these day to day things and let him fill us and give us rest as we go through these trials and stressful events. We are not to let fatigue set in, pain develop, or criticism force us into the mindset that we need to just get by till the next thing. We are to walk along side Christ as He takes us through each trial giving us rest along the way so that we are not just praying to get by!

Ephesians 3:16 - "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through the Spirit in your inner being,"

Romans 8:26 - "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."

God gives us the Holy Spirit to Fill us along the way! As a believer and beloved child of God, we are never left alone, to our own resources, to cope with problems!!! And even when we are tired and cannot find the words to pray the Holy Spirit prays with and for you! Friday night, I knelt to pray at my bedside and nothing! Nothing! Not a thought or feeling ran through my brain. I was upset that I couldn't even pray for strength. But the great thing is...that I didn't have to! I have a helper!!! And God hears and answers our prayers according to His beautiful and divine will!

Thank you Lord for that fact that we can come to you when we are neck deep in the issues of life! Thank you that when we do not have the strength to stand, we are made strong through your Son Christ Jesus! And thank you, that when the words can't be formed in our minds or mouths that your gift of the Holy Spirit prays for us!!! Thank you that You hear us and answers our prayers when we are running on empty!!!!!!!!!