Working on doing this these days. My tank has nearly run dry. Thanks to Cinde Lucas for the confirmation! Running On Empty A few months ago we headed out on a trip and not long after we merged onto the interstate the low fuel light in our van came on. We had been talking and enjoying the view and hadn’t noticed how low we were on fuel. Before we could get to a gas station the “miles to empty” gage hit 0 and our prayer life took on a whole new meaning! Thankfully we made it to a gas station before the motor died, but it wasn’t without some frantic prayers and a huge mental note to never get on the interstate again without first filling up our vehicle! Without realizing it, most of us live our lives this way; we have more to do than we can possibly finish in week, let alone a day, and instead of taking time to refill our “gas tank”, we just keep running on adrenaline and praying that we make it through another day. We have convinced ourselves and those who depend on us that we are super humans who can do anything we set our mind to. The problem with this attitude becomes evident as we find ourselves coping with stress related issues like high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, depression, diabetes, and countless other health problems. In this fast paced, now world that we live in, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to carve out “me” time. The problem that occurs is that after living months, years, and even decades without significant times of renewal, we find ourselves in a state of burn out and if we aren’t careful we can become yet another statistic that falls prey to the rat race of life One of the problems I think that people have with taking time for themselves is that they feel it’s a bad thing, even a sin, to do something for themselves. But I have good news for you; it is NOT a sin to take time for yourself. Jesus told His disciples that the two greatest commandments were to love God with all their heart and to love their neighbor as they loved themselves (Matthew 22:37-40). This means that it’s actually wrong to NOT take care of yourself and that doing this is part of obeying and following Jesus. The reason that Jesus told us to live this way is because unless you have been filled up yourself, you don’t have anything of value to give to someone else. You may be going through the motions, but the strain and stress of “making yourself do something” because you’re running on an empty tank, is felt by all those whom you are trying to help! How much better our lives, and the lives of those we are serving, would be if we first took care of our own personal needs so that we could be equipped to help those around us. Sometime over the next few days sit down, look at your calendar and see where you can pencil in some time to refill yourself. If you’re one of those people that say “I’ll do that when I have time or when I don’t have anything else to do,” guess what, you’ll never do it! You have to be deliberate about finding time and activities that renew your body, soul, and spirit. Before you take on the world, spend some time fueling yourself for the journey. Laugh, play a game, go fishing or hunting, dance, do something FUN. Go to a movie, read a book, take a walk, get a massage! Close your eyes, turn off the television, read your Bible, pray, listen to the birds, BREATHE! You, and those who live with and around you, will be thankful that you do!
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 12:20:56 +0000
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