Running On Empty

Have you ever run out of gas?  What happens?  What about this scenario?  The car begins to hop, skip, jump, spit, and sputter and finally it takes its last gasp of air and suddenly goes silent.  The gauges drop and the lights slowly burn out as the battery dies.  Sometimes you sit dazed confused because you really didn’t see it coming.  You where so focused on your plans or rush to get there, that you didn’t stop or slow down long enough to check the fuel gauge.  Other times, you simply shake your head in shame, because you knew better.  You knew the tank was low, you knew you needed to get some fuel, but you thought it was worth the risk.  Now, here you sit on a busy highway or perhaps on an old country road embarrassed, angry, and frustrated about what this stupid lack of judgment is going to mean.  You begin to grasp at straws.  Do I have a gas can in the trunk?  No!  Hmmm, I knew I should have put that emergency kit in the back.  Oh no, it’s starting to rain.  Oh, snap I don’t have an umbrella either.  Well let’s get my trusty cell phone out and call for some help.  Great , no signal!  Now, I can’t call for help and I can’t even let my appointment know I am going to be late.  Man oh, man….my appointment!  I’ll never make it in time.

So now, here you set.  Out of gas, no tank, no cell phone, it’s raining, no umbrella, and you’ve just missed an important appointment.  People were expecting you.  Perhaps, it was a job interview, a child’s little league game, a birthday party, or maybe you were just having coffee with a friend and you missed it because you didn’t stop to get gas.  Certainly, frustration and regret sets in.  The consequences of our choice may be small or it may be very costly.  While missing that little league game, may not a big deal to you, it could be a huge deal to the child.  What if you missed a job interview, while the interviewer could’ve been at home with a sick child or parent?  What if the birthday party you missed was someone’s 50^th and you were the only close friend that did not make it?  Oh, we can shake things off and assume that other people will do the same; the truth is our empty tank affects more than just us.

Are you running on empty?  Do you wake up day after day simply going through the motions?   Do you feel you are being pressed on all sides and it’s just a matter of time until the gas run’s out and everything comes to a halt?  Ever felt like you were just a fraud and sooner or later everyone’s going to find out about you, because things aren’t right or going well?  Perhaps, you’ve got that funny feeling down deep in your gut and are unsteady, because you know you are at your limit and cannot go any further alone.  Perhaps you have unpaid bills, made a bad career choice, dealing with substance abuse,  have a relationship problem, a sexual addiction, overworked, stressed out, or know things just aren’t right.  The tank is getting empty and about to run dry.  You may be reading this devotion and the reality is you are empty, there’s nothing left, you can go no further, and you’ve done all that you can do.

In 2 Kings ch. 4, there was a woman in a similar circumstance.   She had just lost her husband, she had no money, and the creditors where coming.  She went to Elisha the prophet to plead her case, because her husband was a man who loved the Lord.  Elisha asks her what property she had and her reply was, “a jar of oil.”  He then instructed her to get her son’s and all the empty vessels they could find and shut the doors and begin to fill the empty vessels from the full one she had.  They did so and the oil continued to flow from the full vessel until they ran out of empty vessels.   When they finished they had enough to pay off the creditors and to live on.

Oil in scripture represents many things.  It may represent consecration, cleansing, refreshing, a new work, emancipation, blessings, healing, etc.  Regardless it is always of merit and represents a form of purpose.  For the sake of this illustration, let’s look at the oil as a representation of Christ and our purpose in Him.  If you notice before the widow could be blessed, Elisha asks her a question.  He asked what she had.  Before she could receive she had to be willing to step up and take action.  Once she did as Elisha had instructed her life was changed completely.  Had she not have done as the prophet instructed she would have, most likely, found herself in a worse state than she was currently in.  She was running on empty, but in her obedience to truth she became blessed.  Now you may say, “At least she had something to start with; I don’t have a vessel of oil, I have nothing.”  You may be correct, but it’s a problem you can fix and move from emptiness to fullness.

Your emptiness is eating you up inside.  Christ once approached a Samaritan woman at a well and asked for drink of water.  She was taken back.  As a Jew, Christ was not expected to associate, let alone speak to a lowly Samaritan woman.

John 4: ^9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

^10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

^11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? ^12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

^13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, ^14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

The Samaritan woman was immediately intrigued and wanted to know more and engaged Christ to the point that he eventually confided to her that He indeed was the Messiah.  She saw that he had no vessel, nothing to draw water with.  It was not needed.  When she believed Christ, much like the widow woman, her vessel was filled, because Christ is the source of the living water.

Are you running on empty?  Rest in the assurance that regardless of your situation or current outlook you are not alone or empty.  Your fullness is found in the acceptance of Christ as Lord and in his promise and fulfillment of emptiness.  You see, Christ also left something empty.  That emptiness was found in the form of an empty tomb.  His death, burial, and resurrection are the evidence of His deity and Godship.  The empty tomb is the evidence that every prophecy and every promise ever made in scripture by or about Christ is absolute and true.  This makes the Bible an actual historical account and your road map to moving from feeling empty to experiencing the fullness that is found in a relationship with Christ.

Perhaps it’s time for acceptance of the reality and truth of the gospel of Christ, or perhaps it’s time for a true conversion and transformation through Him.  To begin, you need only act as the widow and take a simple step.  Your full vessel is your profession of belief in Christ and the repentance of sin.  Christ is right here and willing to fill your vessel completely.  You may say, “Well, that’s great but that doesn’t solve my problem.”  It may!  It may not, but regardless your acceptance of Christ as Lord will change your perspective and the focus of your life.  The widow and her sons took her full vessel and began to fill every empty vessel they could find from the full one she had.  When you accept Christ, you are given a full vessel.  If you take that vessel and do just as the widow and begin to focus on filling other empty vessels, I promise your perspective will change.  Your identity, who you are, and your fulfillment in life is not defined by your circumstances.  When you receive Christ and take the focus off of yourself, place it on Him, and focus on your ability to share Him with others (fill other vessels) your focus in life changes.

Galatians 2: ²⁰ I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

There is nothing in this life that can beat you down or steal your victory when you allow His spirit to live within you.  The world is not going to be rosy.  We will have problems, have struggles, and we will still make dumb decisions and suffer consequences.  Yet with all this, you have hope because it is not what happens to the flesh that matters if I’m living by faith.  As you grow in your relationship and obedience to Christ the pain and suffering you have in this life will grow less and less.  You’ll make better choices and grow as an individual and when things do fall apart you know it’s not the end of the world, your tank is never empty!

Serving Christ by Serving You,

Bryan K. Taunton

Exec. Director Footwash Ministries