Running on Empty

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Psalm 73:25–27 (KJV) "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."

What it is speaking to me:

I was 17 and driving to northwest Missouri with my dad to visit a university. Northwest Missouri doesn't have a lot going on. When I say "doesn't have a lot going on", you should read that as NOTHING going on. Lots of empty hills, a bare highway, with farms dotting the otherwise barren landscape. We were in the midst of this barrenness when my dad realized that our van was out of gas. Like not close to "E," not on "E," the needle was buried to the left of the "E." We hadn't seen a gas station in miles, and there was no indication of a gas station in our future. (Also for context, this was the pre-smartphone era, so there was no way to tell if there was a gas station in the vicinity.)

We went up and down a few more hills while discussing the seeming impending reality of us being stranded on the side of the highway in the middle of nowhere. We went up a big hill, and as we began to crest it, we saw a gas station to the right a few hundred yards away on the way back down the hill. The relief in the car was palpable. As we got within a hundred yards, the car died. Because we were on a decline again, we literally coasted right into the parking lot and to a gas pump. We made it.

There are probably times in our lives that we feel like that van did that day. We are on empty, running on fumes, with no relief or break in sight. And it seems like the road we are traveling is full of hills. When the psalmist Asaph says his heart "faileth," I don't think he was necessarily talking about sin. I think he could have been running on fumes.

No matter how on "E" we may feel, the reality is that the filling station might be just over the next hill. But it can be easy to reach for something else when we are on empty. The phone, the food, the distraction, the busyness? None of those are wrong on their own, but none of them are a portion. None of them ultimately fill you back up. That relief begins with us affirming "God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." HE is the portion that fills.

What is it saying to you?

How does God fill you back up?

What do you sometimes use to try and restore yourself instead of God?

What are we going to do about it?

Remind yourself of a time that God filled you back up when you were on empty.

If you are on empty, affirm to yourself (maybe to someone else too) that God is your portion, the strength of your heart. Do that all day if you need to. Pray for God to fill you back up.