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! 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!” There is nothing you can bring to God that He can’t handle in your life! Nothing that weakens you can weaken Him! In fact, His power is more evident and effective IN YOUR WEAKNESS! That’s why we can boast, because no matter what weakens us, God will always be our reserve of strength! Whether it’s finances, divorce, debt, family, friends, job, death or diabetes…God can handle any situation that’s draining you!
Isaiah 40:28-31, “Have you never heard? Have you ever 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)
Well, Here's What God Promises To The Totally 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 up their wings [and rise up 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).
It's possible that God's been trying to say some very important things to us, things that would bring sense to our swirling world, but we can't hear Him because we're 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 our 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!" Don't ignore His call to "be still and know that He is God."
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 mind won't stop, and our body won't start. Sometimes we are scattered, restless and half here. We need to pause from time to time and reflect on the condition of our hearts and lives.
I often defrag my computer; it needs a tune up every 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 Us To Slow Down Or To Stop Right Now So He Can Show Each Of Us Some Things That We Are Never Going To See If We'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 us anything, when our focus is always on everything else?
It could be that you've been running ahead of the Lord's timing, or you've been pursuing what you want instead of what He wants. Many of us are still Driving along not realizing that we're Directionally Challenged and Heading For a Crash!
Maybe you've been neglecting the regular timeout that God calls a "Sabbath"; you're all Accelerator and no Brakes, you're violating God's created order of taking regular 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!”
Because truth is, if we don't choose to slow down, He will as the 23rd Psalm says, "…MAKE us lie down in green pastures..." And truth is, many times the only way I took my Time Off, Time Out and Time Away was by God's Force! It wasn’t until I was flat on my back sick that I received the much-needed rest I should’ve been getting all along. And I had to learn how to even force myself to take better care of myself! I didn’t 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 pause, 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. This is why it’s so vital that you take Time Off, Time Out and Time Away! He is our reserve, but we are running so many times on empty, we don’t realize that God is our Reserve.
A good friend of mine named Earl recently picked up a used pickup truck for a friend of ours. However, it’s when Earl started up the truck 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 couldn't keep it running no matter what he tried. He got to the 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 really 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 go check these two switches that are right next to the radio. You see, this truck has a wonderful 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, which was full of gas, and turned-on Tank 1, which was totally 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'm assuming that your life runs fast, and hard much like mine. You have family, work, church, friends, schedules, children, business, school, leadership, health and financial check lists and the like. And because of it, there are times when your tank is basically empty. You're totally 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 doesn’t grow tired or weary. His understanding is beyond human reach.” (CEB) Now, in case you didn’t 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’re ready to fall apart!
His resources and wisdom just never, ever run out, but yours do, and don’t feel bad because mine does as well. But as for God; He is never tired or weary! He's 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’d 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's 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). Any words here that sound like you? "Weary, weak, tired, worn out, exhausted, feeble, faint, no might, stumble, fall?"
And furthermore, what’s so interesting about this text is that even the “young” and the “selected” will not be exempt! You’d think the young would have nothing to complain about, but truth be told, life hits hard and it doesn’t care about your age! Even the youth will be exhausted, and young men will all give up. And we can’t judge them either. Because you never know what someone’s struggle is. You may be 60 and battling with diabetes, but believe it or not, there’s a 6-year-old battling cancer, and a 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 being so hard on yourself? Don’t attempt to ‘fake it till you make it.’ Be honest with yourself, if no one else, and admit that you’re exhausted…However....don’t 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’re doing, but we don’t. 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?” Meaning our life, our family, our finances and health, our choices, our decisions, our marriages, churches, ministries and businesses. “God why is this not working?” And as silly as it sounds, I’m certain we’ll get a response much like Earl did, “did you mess with the wrong button?” And if we’re honest and humble enough, we’ll 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’s your reserve tank?
When Earl’s Tank 1 on that truck was empty, the fuel in Tank 2 made all the difference! I can't tell you how many times I have reached empty 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 strong and able to 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 makes you a “weak person.” What makes you a “weak person” is when you think your source of strength and power comes from you!
Whatever you are going through, you must contact Him, like Earl had to contact the previous owner of the pickup truck. God is waiting for you to stop trying to be strong and hold it all together. He’s waiting for you to slow down and come to Him for Help!
Now, I don’t know about you, but when I go to someone for advice and help, I like to know that they’ve already sat where I’m 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’re 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!
Blessings
J.P. Olson
www.journeyintotheword.com
Join Journey Into The Word each Sunday evening at 6:00 PM CST & 7:00 PM EST on the NOW Network http://www.theNOWnetwork.org
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