Today is the first day in 23 days that I have sat down to write and it feels so good! Writing is my therapy and also my way of staying encouraged through God’s Word! Due to Covid I was out of commission for a while. Years ago, one of my medical team members taught me how to be “in tune” with my body. I thought a lot about that while I was sick with Covid. I usually know a day or two before I get a cold because I am so aware of my feelings. This gives me a chance to start fighting it before it gets started. One of the hardest things for me to learn was to listen to my body meaning when it is tired, rest! That is so hard for me because I am not a sit around kind of person.
If only I could be as in tune with my spiritual body! All of the signs and warnings are there. 2020 went out just like it had been all year - a royal pain. Due to my family of four having Covid we were not able to be with my Mom for Christmas which broke my heart. Actually, we were not together for 18 days! Then the morning I was going to try to go see her she fell and fractured her knee cap! Really, God?! Now, I could act like I didn’t feel that way but God already knows. I had not been on social media, read a devotional or even Scripture. I was running on empty. Maybe crawling on empty was more like it!
A while back I had heard Jackson Browne’s song, “Running On Empty” on the radio. “Running on (running on empty) Running on (running blind) Running on (running into the sun) But I'm running behind. Everyone I know, everywhere I go, People need some reason to believe…” I thought about the song again. I was running on empty and we are not made for that.
A friend had just given me a sign that reads, “I WILL carry, sustain, rescue YOU! Isaiah 46:4”. When I am in tune to God I know this but when I have not been filled up, I begin sputtering, and am soon empty. Isaiah 40: 28, “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.” God was not tired. He rested to reflect on His work and as Genesis 1: 31 tells us, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.” I needed to take time to reflect. No matter how bad I felt, I could pause and reflect on all of the good God brings me. Once I did this I began feeling recharged emotionally, physically and spiritually.
Jesus promised rest for us if we come to Him. Matthew 11: 28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” We need to be in tune to our spiritual well being. We need to come daily for a “fill up” of the Holy Spirit. We can do this be spending quality time with God in peace and quiet. He does not intend for us to run on empty. He intends for us to run into the Son!
I believe 2020 was a year that many of us have experienced running on empty at some point. The good news is that while we may not be able to get on a computer or go to church, God is right there with us, ready to fill us up. When we need to be filled up we can just ask Him and watch Him work, filling us with peace and joy!