Running on Empty

I jump in my car and reach for my cell as I always do at the start of my lunch break. I notice at once the battery indicator is on the very last bar, you know the one right before it starts beeping annoyingly at you? I risk it and call my husband anyway. I get his voicemail. I don’t leave a message (no sense in wasting more of my battery life). I glance at my gas gage and see that I am millimeters away from my gaslight coming on, which obviously means I have waited far too long to fuel up. Everyone knows that your car runs better on a full tank of gas. I think about getting gas. This leads me to my dwindling checking account. (Both of us get paid tomorrow so for the next 24 hours funds are low). Who ever heard of getting paid once a month anyway? Don’t worry things are fine for us, we aren’t going broke… I just feel like I am running on empty, stretching everything to get the optimum use, sometimes causing utter destruction.

All of us are familiar with the phrase "running on empty." It is a way to describe a situation that has exhausted all required resources and has essentially left nothing to draw energy from. This can also be known as running on fumes, which is the act of producing energy with the wavering remains of a powerful agent that once supplied power.

How many times do we as Christians “run on empty/fumes” in our spiritual lives? How many times do we come home from a conference, mission trip, or even a great Bible study all gassed up? How long is it until we re-fuel or charge the battery? Since Matt and I have been helping out with the youth this summer, this has really been on my mind since many of them are leaving on mission trips soon. I know that I tend to ride the high for as long as possible and sometimes I am left with nothing and I am guessing it happens to others as well.

Just like keeping gas in your car or a charge in your phone, it is ESSENTIAL to fuel your Spiritual life with consistent quiet time and study. I know this seems elementary and it probably is but it’s something that needs to be taught all the time. More importantly, we need to learn the warning signs when we are not properly feeding our spiritual life. When your phone starts beeping at you, you know you need to charge your battery. It’s the same when the gas light comes on in the car. Do we ignore the warnings that God is giving us when we are straying? Are we reverting to old habits, finding ourselves anxious, lonely, angry? I am beginning to understand the signs now and I am so grateful that God, with His perfect grace, allows me to come back and be cleansed by his blood.

Sorry for the randomness.... I think I am going to fuel up my car.