If you’ve ever experienced what it’s like to get “bad fuel/gas” and had trash in the fuel line of your vehicle you know it’s not good. It’s happened to me. My truck spit and sputtered and finally pooped out all together. Mr. Fix-It rolls his eyes as I mimic the sounds my truck makes. I’m not a mechanic, hey I just want it to run!

I thought about how this paralleled how “bad fuel/gas” affects us as people. Just like my truck I can chug along until I spit and sputter and finally give out. We were made to take in the right kind of fuel physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally. The right fuel makes a huge difference.

When I feel depleted I have two choices, I can either drag myself around body, soul and spirit, or go directly to God in prayer and in His word for the right fuel. Have you ever heard someone say, “All we can do is pray about it.” I’ve often thought that sounds like the last resort, when it ought to be our first resort, “Hey, I’ll run home and tell Dad (God) about it. He’ll know what to do.”

When is the last time you heard some disturbing news or felt depleted and “ran home to tell God all about it and ask Him what to do?” Was it your first thought, your first reaction, or did you spit and sputter until you gave out? Have you been taking in good fuel from Him or been feeding on what the world gives out?

Whenever I wander away from grazing on God’s word, prayer, church or being the company of other Christians, I can drift into being depleted. Folks, I won’t get on my soap box but let me say, what we graze on matters!

I was recently dealing with something that was churning over and over in my mind. The longer I mulled the worst it got until finally I had chewed on it long enough. It finally dawned on me what a waste of time and energy when all my chewing wasn’t going to make a beans worth of difference.

Jesus said, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Matthew 6:27 

 

Worry changes nothing. Prayer changes everything. By prayer and God’s word, we can claim His promises. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6

Prayer ushers in God’s light into our dark situation. Jesus always brings hope, but not the fragile hope of this world, but hope that we can rest in knowing our cares, our deepest concerns are in His hands. There is no safer place to be than that.

“Every day you have another opportunity to affect your future with the words you speak to God.” –Stormie Omartian

“Life saving truth can be so close. But grasping onto it and standing on it and letting it shift my thinking away from panic (worry, fear, the what-if’s)—that’s something that requires truth to be inside me, guiding me, rewiring my thinking, and whispering, “Safety is right here. Insecurity will stop choking you when you remove it’s grip. Insecurity only has power over you when you allow it to control your thoughts.” –Lysa Terkeurst from her book, The Best Yes.

“Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.” Proverbs 4:23 NCV

Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man (woman) remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:1

This entry was originally published on Life Beyond Hepatitis C, and is reprinted with permission.