Good morning. The question to get things started this morning is “How full is your tank?”
Have you noticed that there are different categories of drivers regarding when they feel the need to fill their vehicle’s gas-tank? Some take that little light that comes on telling you that we are low on fuel as a personal challenge. “This car can’t tell me what to do! It says I need gas immediately. Hah! I know that I can make it another 30 miles after the warning light comes on. I’m going to drive at least 25 of those miles just to show it who’s the boss.” Then there are those who we might call “conditional” gas-tank fillers. (My present situation is an example.) These are the ones who fill their tank with one eye on coupons and specials. At the moment, my “gas emergency” light is on, but that’s OK because I have been waiting until Tuesday when I have a 13 cent off coupon at the local Shell station. I say it is OK, but that is only true if I don’t run out of gas on Monday. (I didn’t 🙂
Finally, there are the those who seem to feel their tank needs filling if it gets anywhere below half. These are the people who, when riding with me in my vehicle, sometimes point out “You know that your gas warning light is on, right?” My answer, “Uh huh,” doesn’t usually appease their concern.
I don’t know which category you would put yourself in, or maybe you have a completely different category, but I will say that when it comes to filling our hearts and souls, virtually all of us fit into that last “never below half a tank” category. This is because God built into each of us an understanding of spiritual need, a spiritual warning light that we know we need to take seriously. I believe that this is a natural by-product of God breathing into humanity His Spirit. Because God has a place within us that belongs to Him, we all know that place needs to be filled in a proper spiritual way. Not all of humanity is able to put the need into words, but we all know that we have the need.
Many scriptures put the understanding of this need into words. Psalm 62:1-2,5-8 for example: “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken…Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.”
In Psalm 42:1 The need is presented with a greater urgency: As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, oh God.
None of us are comfortable when our soul is in want. That is exactly as God intends for it to be.
But there is a problem: we have an enemy. The enemy works tirelessly to try and convince us that the answer to satisfying this spiritual need may be found in other ways. Some try to find satisfaction through work, or hobbies, or riches, or physical appearance, or great accomplishments, or sex-drugs-alcohol, the list is quite endless. But all of those efforts are, as Solomon tells us repeatedly in the book of Ecclesiastes, like “chasing after the wind.” None of them fill the void. None of them will satisfy for long. It is sad that many people devote their lives to filling that spiritual void by devoting themselves to things that cannot accomplish the goal. Only God can fill the spot in our lives where God alone belongs.
Perhaps we should take stock from time to time, considering all the things we have tried and are about to try to meet our spiritual need. What is working, and what is not? Prayer, worship, meditation within His word, fellowship, acts of love and service, and so on.
The prayer of the Apostle Paul in Romans 15:13 is a righteous prayer that we could all lift up to God for one another: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
To keep our spiritual tank topped off, to know that we are never going to run dry, we must acknowledge the need for what it is, and then we must go to Him who alone is able to provide the filling. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is in love with you. He is desperate for you to be filled and well.
Bring Him your need and be filled!
Vern