RUNNING ON EMPTY

Little Zoey was running on empty this day.  She had played and swan and ran around.  She was chasing her cousins, her brother and her dog.  She was exhausted and needed some time to relax and just chill!!  So she did.  On papa's boat in great grandma's lap is where she rested.  She recharged her battery, so to speak.  Zoey seems to be one who knows her limits.   She knows when she is running on empty.  She knows when it's time to chill out and relax. She's a deep thinker.  No not a stinker, a thinker.  She growls when she hasn't rested and mumbles and throws her hands in the air all to try to get us to understand she needs a break.  It's actually quite comical to watch her sometimes.  She's running on empty and she knows it and so does everyone else within an ear shot.  Now my other 3 grandkids, they'll keep going until they pass out.   They go and go and go and go and go and go.  The day of this picture, they were running and jumping off papa's boat.  It was quite amazing.   Up the ladder, down the aisle and off the front,  This was repeated way to many times.  I got tired just watching them.  They have so much energy that my head feels like it's spinning around in circles.   They will keep going until their tank is way beyond empty.  They don't like to just relax, they like to keep busy, they like to keep going, they like to keep playing.  They're typical kids who love to have fun and play.  To them relaxation is boring.  

As adults we sometimes don't ever learn to relax.  We are so busy with life, with work, with meetings, and committees, we busy ourselves with other peoples lives, trying to run their life because our life is so perfect and in order.  We get up at sunrise and don't rest til it's time for bed.  We have no time for relaxation, no time for a break, no time for fun.  We are just busy people.  We end up running our tanks dry.  To actually sit and relax in order to refuel our bodies. seems like a total waste of time.  We run here, we run there, we run back and forth and run to and fro.  Running on Empty is an old song, but a true one.  We constantly run ourselves ragged and then wonder why our health is poor and our stress level is so high.  We don't take time to relax and we don't take time for ourselves.  And God forbid we take time to spend with God.  After all He knows how busy we are.  Surely He doesn't expect us to take an hour or so away from our busy schedule.  After all we have deadlines to meet, appointments to get to, schedules to keep.  God knows we're busy trying to make a living for our family.  Surely He doesn't expect us to take time away from that, or does He?

Let me be brutally honest here, Yes He does expect us to take time away from our daily life, to spend time with Him.  I actually think a lot of us keep so busy because we don't want to face God.  We runaway from Him because if we take time with Him, He may ask us to change something about ourselves.  He may ask us to give up alcohol or smoking.  He may ask us to stop gossipping, He may ask us stop overeating, He may ask us to stop being so angry.   We run ourselves ragged, running away from the very God who gave us the legs to be able to run in the first place.  We are so afraid of what God may ask us to do, that we end up running on empty and end up in hospitals or the morgue.  Stress is the number one cause of many diseases and illnesses.  How many accidents are caused by someone in a hurry?  People we have got to stop this madness,  We cannot  continue to keep running from God.  We cannot continue running on empty.  We need to take time to refuel, reenergize and refill our tanks.  If we don't we will end up not only spiritually dead but physically dead. 

Listen, God understands that we have a life to live, after all He gave us this life.  He knows we have to earn a living and that we have stuff to do.  But when we put all this stuff, all our work in front of Him and neglect Him and our health, the result is not going to be pretty.   Life is hard enough without running away from God.  Without God in our life we cannot handle the stress that happens.  Listen He has taken my stress, my fears and my failures and turned them around.  There have been so many times when I busy myself with petty, stupid stuff, then I'll hear that still small voice whisper, "Debra, I am here.  Stop running and sit still for a moment.  I already have the answer to your problems.  Relax!"  People we need to stop running and take some time to reconnect with God.  We need to refuel our mind and our heart by spending time with the one who created our heart and mind.  

May today be the day we stop running away from God and start spending time with God.  May we take time to relax and refuel our minds and hearts in Jesus Christ and may we learn to calm down and just chill.  In Jesus name I pray, amen.