Running On Empty

As a child my mom was notorious for running out of gas in the car. I remember many times stuck somewhere because we the gas gauge was reading empty. Of course this was all before cell phones were a phenomenon so we would have to walk to a gas station or walk somewhere to call for help. Because of my past experience with running out of gas I never let the van go very far without refueling. It put the fear of God in me as a child so now every time it gets to a 1/4 tank I run immediately to the gas station to filler up.

But what about our spiritual life? How empty do we allow ourselves to get before we fill up? I know for me it has been a hard lesson to learn. Instead of being left on the side of the road with a car that will go no further, I find myself broken down and out of "gas" emotionally and spiritually. I am a go, go, go kind of person. I live on the edge of the cliff, fly by the seat of my pants but unfortunately my daily intake of the Lords Presence tended to also fall in this type of lifestyle. Instead of a daily filling I would get a spiritual high and go for as long as I could push it. Even when the little "low gas" symbol blinked on my dash I pushed to see how far I could go.

The Father is no longer allowing me to do this. He has let me crash and burn pretty hard lately because its making me realize how much I don't want to end up back at that same spot. The Father has been speaking to me about giving from only my overflow. Hmmmm, that means I need to be full to overflow not burning fumes and hoping to coast to a near by gas station. I have gotten tired of "walking home" because I ran out of fuel. All that we do should be out of our overflow. Whatever just spills over not us dipping into the reserves. So now I am walking out this daily filling. I have been doing well and then last week I slipped back into coasting and by Sunday I was crashing and burning. The good thing is it didn't take me long to get back into His Presence and get filled up again.

We need to check with the Father about all we are doing. We live in a very self driven society. Our society tells us we must be involved in every minsitry, at all times and in every activiy you can think of. This season of rest for has shown me that for me and my family we must make choices and choose only to participate in the activity the Lord has called us too. That means for us the kids don't do sports or go every time the church the doors are open. We need to be filled here first and then go out and splash out over other with our overflowing spirits.

Are you running on fumes? Are you just coasting right now? Take it from someone who has bought the farm a few too many times, only give out of your overflow. Fill yourself daily with the Presence of the Lord. Ask Him where you should give of your overflow and learn to rest in His Presence. It totally beats crashing and burning all the time and your fruitfulness because of your time with the Father is exponential. God is good and His mercy endures forever. Let's just all spend some time with Him and give out of our overflow!