We are beginning the day in prayer! Father, Only You can satisfy the thirsty soul & fill the hungry soul with what is good, knowing that goodness comes from the manifestation of Your grace through Christ Jesus.
Let nothing that happens today, or has happened before, discourage you about tomorrow. Our words create things and tear things down. Pray that your words today would honor God and that the things you say might cooperate with what God wants to accomplish in you. God's plans for your life far exceed the circumstances of your day. Let God's promises shine on your problems.
I have learned that a closed Bible is no good. A word for today. You realize that the size of the situation and the size of the need does not change the size of your God at all! The size of your problem will never change the dimensions of your God! What may be too big for you will never be too big for Him! With Him, all things are possible, and they are likewise possible for you too because He's already told you that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you! So, stop listening to the words of your adversary, and start listening to the terms of your Advocate! He is fighting with you, and for you, you will not lose! He ALWAYS Causes Us to Triumph!
We Don't Pray to Inform God; We Pray to Involve God. God Already Know What's Going On In Your Life. At Some Point, You Got To Stop Thinking God Didn't Hear You, And Ask Yourself Did You Hear God?
Our Inspirational Reading For Today:
Lord, I am Exhausted And Empty. Please Fill Me Again! You Are Never Without His Presence, His Protection, His Provision. Do Not Dare Let The Presence Of This Storm Indicate The Absence Of God! No Matter What You're Going Through, Here's What God Promises To The Overwhelmed And Depleted Person.
Isaiah 40:28-31, "Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of His understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." (NLT)
Many of us are still driving along, not realizing that we are Directionally Challenged and Heading For a Crash because we will not slow down.
Shut Everything Down. Like Our Computer Our Life Gets Fragmented: One situation tugs on our emotions while trying to concentrate on something else. We want to accomplish everything that needs to be done, but our minds will not stop, and our bodies will not start. Sometimes we are scattered, restless, and a half here. We need to pause from Time to Time and reflect on the condition of our hearts and lives.
I often defragment my computer; it needs a tune-up now and then. Then I had a thought: Prayer can help to defragment our lives. When we cast our cares on the Lord, He will show us what we need to do and what only He can do. Many of us need some defragmentation going on right now. We need prayer the most when we have the least time to pray. Take time to defragment your life today. Shut everything down and go to God in prayer. Is it time for your checkup?
God May Be Trying To Get You To Slow Down Or To Stop Right Now So He Can Show You Some Things That You Are Never Going To See If You're Constantly On The Run From One Project To The Next, One Fight To The Next, One Battle To The Next. But how can God show you anything when your focus is always on everything else?
It could be that you have been running ahead of the Lord's timing, or you have been pursuing what you want instead of what He wants. Many of us are still driving along, not realizing that we are Directionally Challenged and Heading For a Crash!
Maybe you have been neglecting the regular timeout that God calls a "Sabbath"; you are all Accelerator and no Brakes, you are violating God's created order of taking normal rest! You're daily bypassing all the signs that are God's messages to you for your safety: 'Stop, Do Not Enter, Yield, Dead End, One-Way, Wrong Way, U-Turn, Speed Limit, Caution, Bump, Bend, No Passing Zone, Bridge, Slippery Road, Falling Rocks, Road Work Ahead, Detour, Under Construction, Don't Walk, Slow Down, Hazard, and even Hospital, just in case you decide to ignore all the other signs!"
God may have been trying to say some critical things to you, something that would bring sense to your swirling world, but you cannot hear Him because you are running so fast, in so many directions, with so many people, to so many places, on so many projects, to do far too much! Whatever the reason for your non-stop pace, I know there must be someone listening right now to whom God is saying, "It's time to take a break… it's time to hit 'pause.' It's Time for Time Off, Time Out, and Time Away!" Do not ignore His call to "be still and know that He is God."
Because the truth is, if we do not choose to slow down, He will, as the 23rd Psalm says, "…MAKE us lie down in green pastures..." And the truth is, many times, the only way I took my time Off, Time Out, and Time Away were by God's Force! It was not until I was flat on my back sick that I received the much-needed rest I should have been getting all along. And I had to learn how even to force myself to take better care of myself! I did not want God to 'MAKE me lie down flat' anymore. So, I had to start taking a hard look at all the things I was involved in and see where I needed to make some better arrangements and adjustments for my life.
God asks us to pause or ultimately makes us wait, not to punish us, but to refit us. He wants to slow you down for work that needs to be done, for refueling that you desperately need, for retooling, or for redirecting you back into the center of His will. And He's wired us to do what His Son did at the beginning of His unbelievably busy days here on earth - to spend quiet time with Him. To hit 'pause' each new day so we can hear our Master's voice before we hear any other, appropriate our Master's resources, experience our Master's healing touch, and receive our Master's orders for the day. Therefore, you must take time Off, Time Out, and time Away! He is our reserve, but we are running so many times on empty, we do not realize that God is our reserve.
A good friend named Earl recently picked up a used pickup truck for a friend of ours. However, it is when Earl started up the car that the trouble began. You see, Earl (everybody's friendly neighborhood mechanic) was taking the truck out for a test drive for Jim, who had just bought it. And as he backed it out of the new owner's garage, it suddenly started sputtering and stalling. He could not keep it running no matter what he tried. He got to a phone and called the old owner and said, "What's the deal with this truck you just sold?" Well, the man who sold it is an honorable man, and he was distressed about this suddenly dysfunctional truck. Then suddenly, he asked Earl, "Did you happen to mess with the radio at all?" Yes, he had. The previous owner told Earl to check these two switches that are right next to the radio. You see, this truck has a beautiful feature, especially for the country roads that it travels so much. It has what they call a reserve gas tank. Earl had unknowingly turned off Tank 2, full of gas, and turned on Tank 1, empty. But the good news is that as soon as he switched from the empty tank to the reserve tank, Mr. Pickup Truck ran and ran and ran.
I am assuming that your life runs fast and hard, much like mine. You have family, work, church, friends, schedules, children, business, school, leadership, health, financial checklists, and the like. And because of it, there are times when your tank is empty. You are exhausted; you have nothing left to give. But there is good news that gets delivered Right when your tank has nothing Left!
Isaiah 40:28 says, "Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not grow tired or weary. His understanding is beyond human reach." (CEB) Now, if you did not know, the God you belong to, the God who lives in you, is inexhaustible! And that wonderful word "inexhaustible" is defined as: "of a never-ending supply; incapable of being used up because of its continual abundance; tireless; incapable of being wearied or worn out. This is talking about the God who holds you together when you are ready to fall apart!
His resources and wisdom just never, ever run out, but yours do, and do not feel bad because mine does as well. But as for God, He is never tired or weary! He is the One who created the ends of the earth (and still He is never tired or weary). And no matter what the problem or struggle is, His understanding of it is still beyond human reach. There is nothing we can bring to Him that so perplexes us, will ever stress Him! He can handle anything and everything now; if only we would stop thinking we can as well! God never runs low or runs out, but we do. The good news is that when we do, we still have our connection to Him!
And here is where the reserve tank kicks in. The passage continues, "He gives power to the tired and worn out, and strength to the weak. Even the youths shall be exhausted, and the young men will all give up." (Vss. 29-30 TLB). By the way, any words here that sound like you? "Weary, weak, tired, worn out, exhausted, feeble, faint, no might, stumble, fall?"
Furthermore, what is so attractive about this text is that even the "young" and the "selected" will not be exempt! You would think the young would have nothing to complain about, but the truth is told, life hits hard, and it does not care about your age! Even the youth will be exhausted, and young men will all give up. And we cannot judge them either. Because you never know what someone's struggle is. You may be 60 and battling diabetes, but believe it or not, there's six-year-old battling cancer and 16-year-old battling addiction. No one is exempt from running on empty! Not even the "select"!
Even those who are physically strong, in good health, young, at their best possible level of quality, in excellent condition, are still tired, weary, need rest, stumble and fall, get weak, and trip! So then, why are you so hard on yourself? Do not attempt to 'fake it till you make it.' Be honest with yourself; if no one else, admit that you are exhausted; however, do not get stuck there; remember you still serve an Inexhaustible God!
You see, much like Earl, who got inside the pickup truck and immediately went to pressing buttons, by the way, we do the same thing. Pressing an unnecessary button (the radio) caused a necessary button (the reserve tank) to be switched off. Sometimes in life, we think we know what we are doing, but we do not. And like Earl, who had to contact the person who owned the truck first and therefore knew it best, we need to go to God who created us first and knows us best to ask Him, "God, what's wrong with this?" This means our lives, family, finances and health, choices, decisions, marriages, churches, ministries, and businesses. "God, why is this not working?" And as silly as it sounds, I am sure we will get a response much like Earl did, "did you mess with the wrong button?" And if we are honest and humble enough, we will admit that we did. Then we can have God tell us what to do next to fix it. And like Earl, it will be the same answer, switch to your reserve tank. And what is your reserve tank?
Well, Here's What God Promises To The Overwhelmed And Depleted Person: "But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] will gain new strength and renew their power; they will lift their wings [and rise close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun]; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not grow tired." (vs. 31).
When Earl's Tank 1 on that truck was empty, the fuel in Tank 2 made all the difference! I cannot tell you how many times I have reached devoid in my tank, and God's never-empty tank has kicked in, and it has likewise made all the difference. After an exhausting week, I wake up and say, "God, I'm so tired." He says, "I'm not." I say, "I'm empty, Lord." He says, "I know, but switch on My power. I'm not empty."
Now, I know we are "supposed" to be solid and handle anything and everything. But can I tell you how untrue that is? You are to be god-like, but you are never to attempt to be God. You will get tired and weary and worn out and exhausted. And none of that make you a "weak person." What makes you a "weak person" is when you think your source of strength and power comes from you!
No Matter What You Are Going Through, God's Grace, Loving-kindness, and Mercy are Sufficient More Than Enough and Always Available REGARDLESS OF THE SITUATION! There is nothing you can bring to God that He cannot handle in your life! Nothing that weakens you can weaken Him! His power is more evident and effective IN YOUR WEAKNESS! That is why we can boast because no matter what weakens us, God will always be our reserve of strength! Whether it is divorce, debt, death, or diabetes, God can handle any situation that is draining you! But you must contact Him like Earl had to get the previous owner of the pickup truck. God is waiting for you to stop trying to be strong and hold it all together. He is waiting for you to slow down and come to Him for Help!
Now, I do not know about you, but when I go to someone for advice and help, I like to see that they have already sat where I am sitting. And who better to talk to about our weaknesses than one who has experienced weakness and overcame it?! This is our God who so desperately wants us to bring our failures, hurts, discouragement, disappointments, stress, and struggles to Him. He wants us to bring Him our weaknesses and emptiness to Him. He desires that we cast every care on Him!
Remember, You Have To Slow Down, Even When you are Exhausted, Never Forget Your God is Inexhaustible! When You Need to Refuel, He is Your Reserve. Today, Don't Complain About Being Empty, Just Switch Tanks! Take Your Empty Tank to God in Prayer and Watch Him Pour in Fresh Power to Keep You Pressing Onward, Going the Full Distance to Destiny!
Who knew that GRACE is the GAS we need to REFUEL?! And all we need to attain it is honesty. "Lord, I'm Exhausted And Empty, Please Fill Me Again! Help me to slow down and rediscover Your reserve tank of strength, just for me!"
J.P. Olson
www.thewordwithjpolson.org
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