Fuel Up
Like so many others, I had lessons in waiting in line for fuel after Hurricane Michael. As the power outage continued into the second week and then the third, tempers grew shorter and cash and gasoline grew scarce. One day I waited for 45 minutes only to discover that the store wasn’t taking checks. I had money, but it wasn’t easy to access at the time. Stations ran out of gas. Computers and credit cards didn’t operate without electricity or phone lines or internet. Doctors, preachers, farmers and loggers waited with various kinds of containers. I saw dirty trucks with dogs, elegant senior sedans, economy compacts, and mommy SUV’s all poised to get gasoline. It was easy to see that the need for fuel was the great leveler. It didn’t matter what we drove or where we lived, we all needed the fuel to power generators, chainsaws and vehicles.
When my boys played football, the need for fuel for the body intensified there as well. I was unfamiliar with the eating-for-weight-gain phenomenon when the boys entered middle school. By the time they played in high school, I learned to double the amounts that I cooked during the fall practice season and especially when the games began. Even when they stopped by the convenience store to buy up the leftover fried chicken, they were always hungry and not very discriminating as long as there were carbohydrates involved. I should have bought stock in Little Debbie.
In the same way, I need fuel as a believer:
• By memorizing the Word that will come to my mind in hours of frustration or trial.
• By taking comfort from other believers to know I am not alone.
• By gaining confidence from praying for needs and personal directions.
• By praising and worshiping God to give me perspective.
It doesn’t take much of a fuel deficit for my spiritual man to sputter and misfunction. I notice this in my tendency towards sarcasm, my neglect of others’ needs and my desire to skip worship services. Iron sharpens iron, and Paul was serious when he said not to neglect our “assembling together” as brothers and sisters. We can’t wield a sword when we don’t know its weight and heft. The sergeant teaches his soldiers to know the guns backward and forward and in the darkness. I need to be ready for battle with a prepared heart full of the Word and the Spirit’s assurance. Are you running on fumes? Do you remember the last time you filled up?
“For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:22 ESV).
“Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures [and leads] to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you…” (John 6:27 AMP).
Oh Jesus, Bread of Heaven, you were broken for me. Quicken me, chasten me about keeping my spiritual tank filled to show your love and provision to others.
Good examples of what the lack of fuel can do. I know I need to keep filled up on God’s Word otherwise I get weak and I stumble.
So true; if we don’t fill up with the word of God, we will be running out very quickly when it comes to serving others or fight the battle.
Amen to that prayer. I know that as a believer I need to spend more time fueling up.