Don’t Ever Allow Yourself to Stay Empty
I bent over to fill the red, plastic gas container at the filling station, so I could go home and mow the lawn. While the numbers clicked up on the pump, I killed time by reading the instructions on the handle of the hose.
Why aren’t these in English and Spanish? I thought, annoyed at the lack of opportunity to practice reading Spanish. Then I noticed one of the instructions said, “Do not top off.” Ha.
Dad always topped off.
Whenever we left his house, the “gas fairy” (Dad’s self-chosen monicker) would come and fill our tank and then tap, tap, tap the gas handle until there was enough gas to get us an hour farther down the road than we should have been able to go.
I thought about Jesus’ declaration that I had read that morning:
I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
It is the Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
John 6:35 and 6:32b NIV
Something to know about God:
He is a Father who tops off.
God fills his people, by way of his Son–tap, tap, tap–completely full.
One thing I am learning to recognize is the empty, soul-hungry feeling I have inside of me at all times, and that if I come to Jesus he will fill me.
“He who comes to me…” Jesus says. But coming is hard. Cookies and remote controls and scrolling Facebook are easier. Coming to Jesus takes work. It requires denial of quick fixes and an effort to pray, to read the Bible, and to wait for the filling.
In Oregon, you know, you legally have to stay in your car and allow a service station person to fill your tank. You just sit there and wait while someone else does the filling.
Sit there while the gas fairy brings the needle from E to F.
“He who comes to me…” Jesus says.
Don’t stay empty.
Find more stories about my Dad and what he has taught me about how good God is, in my newest book My Father’s Hands: 52 Reasons to Trust God with Your Heart.
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Thank you for this! It is surprising how difficult coming is. But so worth it when God’s Spirit finally breaks through from heaven to earth.
And just how easy( read “difficult” ) is it to just sit there and let the service person do his/her work?!!!
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Do you see my point? I’m agreeing with you that it is much easier to clean the house, go to the grocery store, read and/or discard email, pay my bills, read about other people’s business on Facebook, etc. etc. than *wait* on God for His timing in answering my prayer (my plea, really: “I don’t need the answer until Friday, Lord, take your time, today’s only Wednesday….”)
🙂
NOT. Definitely not easy, especially for us independent types! I think I’ve grown better at waiting, though, the more I realize how empty my quick-fix attempts leave me after a very short time. I’ve become greedy for a deeper, longer-lasting satisfaction.