Filled To Overflowing
Filled To Overflowing
– The Next Step When You Are Running On Empty
If you are anything like me, being around people revives your spirit and gives you energy. Married life has been wonderful for this part of my personality. I now have a live-in person who is “expected” to talk and connect with me on a regular basis, especially when I’ve had a hard day or have to get my word count out. But this tendency to need people around, and my desire to connect on a deeper level can also be a challenge. You see, sometimes I find it hard not to expect or require too much from the people in my world, especially my husband. It can be a bit of a mental battle not to expect him to fill me up when I’m tired, struggling, hurt, or emotionally spent.
People Will Let Us Down
Popular belief is that spouses and close friends should be there for us in our time of need. And, absolutely having people intimately in your world when things turn pear-shaped is priceless, especially for the practical stuff. But friends and partners will let us down. They will respond poorly, be focused on themselves, their own lives and feelings or, just need a break from the effort required to uplift someone else. So, there is a responsibility on us to be an active part of lifting our mood, finding ways to fill our “tanks” and taking steps forward in our own healing and growth. No one else can do that for us.
Jesus Felt Empty & Let Down Too
This experience happened to Jesus in Matthew 26. Jesus, a usually calm and peaceful man, whom the disciples knew intimately, having just spent 3 years living in each other’s pockets, was distressed! Not just a little bit down or upset, this poor man was stressed enough to sweat blood. And yet, in his hour of greatest need, his friends let him down. All he had asked them to do was pray for him, but instead, they fell asleep, twice!
Filled To Overflowing
What struck me in this story is that Jesus didn’t get stuck in his disappointment and hurt, or push His friends to spend time with him, instead, he recognised their humanity and went and spent quality time with God. From this one encounter with His Father, he had enough new-found peace, reassurance, energy, and direction to go on to give another significant and important download of information to the disciples. Time alone with God boosted him significantly so he had the energy to complete his mission well, despite the pending torture breathing down his neck.
God Will Fill Us When We Seek Him
The same can be true for us, (not the torture part – God willing). If we take the time to seek God in our moments of need He will be faithful to fill us, even giving us enough to overflow and bless others with. But the responsibility is on us to seek God and to give Him the time to download all we will need to walk the next part of our journey.
Small Steps Lead to Overflow
This is absolutely easier said than done! Especially when life is busy and feels overwhelming. But starting small and not giving up if we fail is all God needs to begin pouring into us His plan for our future and peace over our today. I have found Him time and again to be my Daddy God who, when I muster the effort to take one step towards Him, comes running towards me.
Sometimes it can feel discouraging when it feels like we have “been here before” or we are taking longer than we would like to change. This is when we need to remember that our journey is less of a straight line and more like a spiral up – to read more, check out the post Spiral Up.
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