Running On Empty

You don’t realize until you go away on vacation, how tired you really are.
Maybe it is the change of scenery, or the absence of routine, but rest is the order of the day.
On any ordinary day, the other fifty-one weeks of the year, you keep going.
There are things that must get done.

You don’t listen to your body when it tells you to rest.
You ignore it.
You continue to function.

But when you get away, time seems to stand still.
The days blend into one another.
You do not live by the demands of a clock.

We are a culture that runs on empty.
We go and go until we can go no more.
How can we possibly continue on an empty tank?
We don’t know when to stop and rest.

We go from one activity to another.
Summer becomes just like any other time of the year.
The pace is fast; the calendar is full.
We feel the need to plan something for every day.

It wasn’t always like that.
People lingered more with each other.
Pick up games were common place in the neighborhoods.
A neighborhood ball field became the big leagues.

There was time.
Time to lay on the grass and see faces in the clouds.
Time to run through the sprinkler or fill up the inflatable pool.
Time to play with bubbles and sidewalk chalk.
Time to build tree forts and make houses out of refrigerator boxes.

Time.
The lazy, hazy days of summer.

Maybe it changed when we had to drive everywhere.
Nothing ever seems to be within walking distance from our home.
Maybe it was because everyone else had their children in a zillion activities.
It was necessary to keep up, without even realizing that is what we were doing.

But at what price?
Exhaustion.
Frustration.
Let alone the actual cost of keeping busy…which can be very expensive.

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, He said to them, “Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. (Mark 6:30-32)

We don’t corner the market on busyness.
The disciples knew all about being busy.
They would have kept going if Jesus hadn’t stopped them.

Why do we think the Energizer Bunny is the epitome of efficiency?
Why do we think it is a sign of weakness to admit we need rest?
We have things all backwards.

Then He got in the boat and His disciples followed Him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey Him?” (Matthew 8:23-27)

We have storms in our lives.
Tumult, wind, and waves in the form of busyness, demands, and pressures.
Sometimes self-imposed!

He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
How we need Jesus in our storms!
How we need Jesus in our busyness!

What a calm we have when Jesus is with us in the storm.
What a peace we have when Jesus is with us in our busyness.
We are balanced…set aright…stilled.

How did Jesus fall asleep as the storm was raging around Him?
He had total trust in His Father.
His Father was in control of the situation.

We run on empty because we try to fill our own tank!
That is a tiring task.
It is not our job to do the filling.

When God fills our tank, He fills it with Himself.
The Spirit equips us to do the job He has called us to do…no more…no less.
When our resources are depleted, He will fill us again.
But we must go off by ourselves with Him so He can do the filling.

Filling doesn’t happen en route.
Filling happens when we stop, submit, and admit that we are empty.

Slow down!
Take time to rest!
Go away, by yourselves, with Jesus to a quiet place!
Let Him fill you…with Himself!

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Asleep In The Bow (music and lyrics by Michael Card)

Sweet Jesus, You slept through the storm in the bow,
Through lightning, through thunder You slumbered, but how?
You totally trusted Your Father, that’s how.
You slept through the storm in the bow.

Were You simply fearless, a sleeper so sound,
That You could find rest with a storm all around?
Was it simple trust in Your Father that made,
The danger seem like a charade?

Sweet Jesus, the storms of this life rage and howl.
So sometimes for little ones, sleep’s disallowed.
Raise up now and speak that these storms may be gone,
And make my waves calm now from darkness till dawn.

Sweet Jesus, You slept through the storm in the bow,
Through lightning, through thunder You slumbered, but how?
You totally trusted Your Father, that’s how.
You slept through the storm in the bow.