Empty Tank?

May I make a confession? I find myself in great need lately.  Not for a face mask or disinfectant wipes. Nope, they would not cure my irritability.  Or my fixation on everything that is not going perfectly well.  As my pastor is fond of saying, “I’m not gonna lie.” I am in need of joy and peace!

I am weary of this quarantine and the next steps seem just as hard.  Mask or no mask? When will I ever get to have a non-awkward in person conversation? How can we plan for the next week or month with so much still unknown? Will financial stability return?  Are our leaders making wise decisions? Loved ones are facing difficult challenges as well, how can I encourage them? 

My tank was on “e”!  All those thoughts are just draining.  I can hear the irritating, unrelenting drip, drip, drip.

How’s your tank? Is it being emptied by worry and uncertainty like mine?  With what concerns are your thoughts preoccupied? 

Thankfully – you may have noticed I switched from the present to the past. From my tank IS empty to my tank WAS empty. God pointed my heart to His point of refreshment.

I pray this over you as I claim it for myself.

“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.”

Romans 15:13

Joy and peace plus hope!  This is what my “tank” needs!  Here is the source of all I need to be refreshed and move forward.  It even includes the power to make it happen.  “so you my overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”.

This hope comes not from government, or answers or feelings, but from the power of God in the Holy Spirit!

All this comes as I do one thing.  “As you trust in him”.  Trust.  Trust is defined in Merriam Webster as a “firm belief in the character, strength, or truth of someone.”  or in this case firm belief in God.  In who He is.  In His power.  In His perfection.  As I learn to put all things on Him in trust – He will fill me with joy and peace and hope overflowing!

Hope, defined by the Wiley Online Library, “is the confident expectation of what God has promised and it’s strength is in His faithfulness.”

Confident expectation.  I love that.  God has shown me that he is indeed good, and powerful, and wise.  My fickle human heart forgets, but He gently calls me back.  Each time I choose to put my trust in Him, I know His character more deeply.  I am filled with more hope.  He upgrades my tank to a larger size :). 

So if your tank is low, turn your mind to who He is.  And then choose to trust.

All joy, peace, and hope in God will overflow! (Mask or no mask!)

Blessings!

Kristin