Out of Gas

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10 (NIV)

Ice cold water: it was the only thing coming out of my tap. It had been one of those days with the kids when I thought to myself, “If I can just make it to bedtime, then I can…(you fill in the blank: clean the house, veg out on the couch, read something just for fun, talk to my husband in complete sentences—completely uninterrupted by children).” Yet it was bedtime, and my husband had just announced that we had no hot water…not even a little bit. So the thought occurred to me, I’ll go old school…I will heat the water on the stove and mix it with the freezing water from the tap, and wholla: warm water. Except, I turned on the stove and the pilot clicked and clicked and clicked, but it produced no flames. 

Well, it quickly dawned on me that our gas tank was empty. Needless to say, bedtime was going to be delayed a bit as we all headed to grandma and papa’s house for hot showers. On top of that, the gas company politely informed me that it would be 5-7 business days before they could come fill our underground gas tank. It appears I was not the only one who had run out of gas.

The truth is I knew better. God had been so gracious to remind me in His still, small voice many times before to go outside and check the gas gauge. But I had politely told God, “Thank you for the reminder. I will be sure to do that as soon as I finish (you fill in the blank again: wiping up this mess, putting away these clothes, feeding my hungry baby, etc.). Well, he had shown me grace time and time again, and we had hot water for many days…until the tank was completely dry.

How often are we like that in our spiritual lives? We run around wearing our many hats (wife, mom, sister, daughter, friend, etc.) and we let the busyness of this life drown out our quiet time with the Lord. We have all heard the saying, “Miss a devotional one day and you can tell the difference. Miss your devotional for a few days and everyone else can too.” By all means, this quiet time with the Lord was never meant to be legalistic-- another check on our everlasting to-do list. Rather God beckons us to spend time with him because he loves us ; because he knows we need him. Because he knows that this life without Him is just too hard and we will find ourselves feeling empty. Ever have one of those days when you just feel like you have nothing else to give? I have! When those times come, I hear God’s still, small voice beckoning me to come away with him and be his love. To remember that he is my first love, and without him I will be like the gas tank in my yard…empty.

The remedy is so simple. Let’s commit this day to run away with God daily. Instead of letting busyness consume us, let us intentionally drown out the noise of this life. You see? I needed much more than hot water, I needed living water, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14 (NIV)

Dear God, thank you for loving me so much and for desiring to spend time with me. Help me to remember that you are my first love and that you hold all things together in my life. With you I can do all things, but without you, I will continue to be frustrated, overwhelmed, and empty. Please still the voices of distraction that seek to draw me away from you and help me make the time to run away with you each day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Application:

How often do we think we need other things more than time with Jesus, only to find out that we traded our peace for something temporal? Consider the course of your day. What are some things that tend to distract you from having a quiet time (TV, housework, fifteen more minutes of sleep, Facebook, smart phones, etc.)? How can you trade in those things for a truly relaxing and refreshing quiet time?

Verses to consider:

“Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men; for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.” Psalm 107: 8-9 (NIV)

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” Psalm 42:1-2 (NIV)

This is a repost of my very first blog with Parakaleo. However, as I study the book of Revelation with the youth girls at my church, I feel the Lord beckoning me to spend more time with HIM....to allow him to be my first love...all over again. :)

Consumed by Good Things

“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” Revelation 2:2-4

I had done it again! I was utterly exhausted. I had enjoyed a wonderful weekend with family and friends, but I was also playing the role of “super mom”, “super host”, and “super wife” all at the same time. Now I was super spent. I had nothing left! As I reflected on the events of the weekend, I knew that I was busy doing good things: hosting friends from Fort Lauderdale (who were great house guests by the way), cooking, cleaning the house, grocery shopping, cleaning up after the kids, cooking again, cleaning again, meeting friends at the park, going to a birthday party, doing laundry, paying bills, etc. Feel tired yet? I am.

Every day life as a mom can be exhausting and so can the Christmas season. Think not? Well how about: buying gifts, going to holiday parties, making gifts, making cookies, going to Christmas tree lightings, practicing for the play at church, going to see Santa at the mall, taking Christmas photos, preparing Christmas cards, mailing Christmas cards, putting up a tree, hanging lights outside the house, driving around the neighborhood to look at lights, planning the holiday meal, decorating the house, etc. Ooooh boy (deep breath), I love Christmas time, but I am getting exhausted just thinking about it. But why?

Christmas is all about the love of the Father for us—a perfect Creator coming into a fallen world to redeem a sinful people. A Creator who loves us so much that he let his own creation put him up on the cross so that we may have eternal life. Whooo! That is some serious love! So how is it that we forget to prepare our hearts more than we prepare our (you fill in the blank): homes, Christmas parties, cards, gifts, etc.?

I hope I am not sounding harsh. I am really preaching to myself! I had become so consumed with “good things” that my quiet time with the Lord was starting to suffer, and I was feeling agitated. I felt on the verge of tears over little things (I am going to partly blame hormones for this flux of emotion), and I needed to have a date with Jesus. I did not need to check more things off of my to-do list; I needed Him and the peace and perspective that only He can give.

You see, I did have some reasons for missing my quiet time: the guests needed clean sheets, my sweet (yet teething) baby was waking up numerous times during the middle of the night, etc. BUT, I was forgetting to make time. The truth is that I needed to say “NO” to a few things. I needed to put things in proper perspective. I needed to prioritize.

On paper I know my priorities. My relationship with God is first, then my husband, and then my kids, etc. You get the drift. Yet somehow, I was managing to put keeping a tidy house and other non-essentials at the top of the list. I was forgetting my quiet time, falling asleep on my husband, and constantly telling Mikey that I would read to him, play with him, and cuddle with him “in just a moment”. The truth is that “in just a moment”, I found myself doing some other non-essential task…something that could wait until later.

In fact, just before I settled down to right this blog, my sweet husband prayed for me. He said two things that really resonated with me:

1. Lord, please help my wife to prioritize.
2. Please help her to be concise and not long-winded. LOL 

I needed that loving encouragement! Let’s learn to prioritize what is most important and learn to be concise with everything else. Someone once told me a story that really blessed me. She said that a teacher gave her students an empty aquarium, a bag of large rocks, and a sack of sand. The teacher instructed the students to fill the aquarium with all the rocks and all the sand. The young class quickly became frustrated because they could not get all of the contents to fit. They thought their teacher had given them an impossible task. After a while, she stood before the class and quickly demonstrated how to successfully complete the assignment: fill the aquarium with the big rocks first (the most important things) and then pour the sand (all the less important stuff) in to fill in the holes and spaces between the rocks. How simple, yet profound!

So as we prepare for this Christmas, let us prepare our hearts more than our homes. And let us be more excited about the celebrating the birth of Jesus than about our plays, decorations, and holiday parties.

Dear Father,

You are so patient and loving towards us. You give us gentle reminders to put you first above all else. Thank you for this wonderful and joyous Christmas season where we get to celebrate the most spectacular event in all of history—the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Help us to prioritize you and keep things in proper perspective. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Verses to ponder:

“I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.” Psalm 119: 15-16

“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.” Lamentations 3:40

Have a wonderful, God-centered day, ladies!
In His love,
Teresa