Running on Empty

Running on Empty

Dary Northrup recounts arriving at the Denver airport eager to get home.  It was late at night and his bed was just an hour away!  As he drove through a desolate stretch of Northern Colorado, a light on the dashboard signaled that the car was nearly out of gas.  Knowing that the nearest fuel was 20 miles away, tension mounted. He coasted down hills, used every trick he knew to conserve fuel, and finally coasted into the station.  His hands were sweaty, shoulder muscles knotted. After pumping the gas, he relaxed. When he got back into his car he heard his favorite CD was playing.  He looked out and saw the bright moonlight reflecting off the snow caps of the Rocky Mountains just to the west.  And then it hit him – the immediate problem had made him deaf and blind to all this beauty!  His point in this story – don’t live your life on empty.

We encounter situations every day that drain us, exhaust us. Temptation comes and we wrestle with it. Decisions have to be made that demand something from us. Sometimes it’s just the effort to get up and get going that wearies us!  In all this, we can just grit our teeth and live by sheer determination or we can go to the One who can fill us up.  The words that the Lord spoke to Isaiah are not just poetry. "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams." (Isaiah 44:3-4, NIV)

If we take life into our own hands, if we fail to balance work and worship, if we forget to take the grace He offers by faith, we become empty and desperate. The songs around us will go unheard; the beauty of His blessings unseen. With Israel’s ancient pilgrims, let’s pray: "I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!" (Psalm 121:1-2, NLT)

 Are you running on empty? Do what seems impossible- stop! Acknowledge your desperation and His sufficiency. Wait! Before you rush ahead, listen for the Spirit’s voice. "Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand." (Isaiah 41:10, NLT)

There is no need to run on empty because God promises Christians the fullness of the Spirit.  "So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts." (Ephesians 5:15-19, NLT)

And when we are overflowing with His life, desperation disappears replaced with "life… more abundantly." (John 10:10, KJV)

________

Are you trusting Jesus,
All along the way?
Does He grow more precious
To your heart each day?
Are you His disciple?
Test His Word and see,
He will give the Spirit more abundantly.

More abundantly,
More abundantly,
“That they might have life
And more abundantly”;
More abundantly,
More abundantly,
“That they might have life
And more abundantly.”

Public Domain
Thoro Harris