Monday, April 20, 2015

When There Is Nothing Left in the Tank

“Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.   Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 4:28-31 NIV)

I really needed this reminder this morning.  Yesterday, I hit a wall.  Both physically and mentally, I felt exhausted.  The months of ministry had piled up, along with the demands of owning a house that had suffered years of neglect.  I felt I had nothing left.  Which is a good thing.

Our human bent is to rely on our own strength and our own wisdom.  It is often not until we come to the end of those that we then start relying on God.  Sure, we claim to rely on God, but I think more often than not we are fooling ourselves.  Only when we have nothing left in the tank, but still so much further to go do I think we recognize the truth.   

It is amazing how often in the Scriptures the turning point for God to intervene is when people come to the end of themselves—whether when they’ve gone astray from Him, are on the verge of death, or just overwhelmed by life’s circumstances—and cry out to Him for help.  This is not a coincidence, because often we are slow to lean on Him. Particularly in the American culture, reliance on others is viewed as weakness; you only do that as a last resort.  But the Lord wants us to rely on Him always.  He wants to be our strength every day.  For, as He told the Apostle Paul, “my strength is made perfect in weakness.” 

But, as it was for Paul, that is hard to do.  We want to be strong, not weak and we want to be seen as strong, not weak.  So we often fool ourselves and seek to fool others that we are stronger than we are. Until we hit that inevitable wall and reality can no longer be denied. That is why, though painful as it may be, it is a good thing to come to an end to ourselves.  It is there we meet the Lord and He can help us.  

Today, if you feel you have little or nothing left in your tank, don’t despair.  It’s a good thing.  You have reached the point where you realize how much you need the Lord’s help.  And the point where He can begin to renew your strength.  

© Jim Musser 2015

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