Daily Devotions
Are You Running on Empty?
“I will pour out water to quench your thirst.” Isa 44:3 NLT
Julie Coleman writes: “I was headed for a writer’s conference in Philadelphia when I realized I’d better think about stopping for gas…Normally I’m fussy about where I stop…but as I drove the lonely stretch of road, I began to feel desperate…any minute…I’d be stranded in 100-plus degrees and I didn’t even have a water bottle…I drove several long miles till I came to a tiny crossroads. Four houses….and a gas station! It looked like it could be called ‘Joe’s Gas Station and Storm Door Company’…I’d probably have turned up my nose at it in another circumstance. But at that moment [it] was the best thing I’d seen! Funny how our circumstances can dictate how we feel!” Running from his enemies, David prayed, “My soul thirsts for you…in a dry…land where there is no water…Teach me to walk in the way I should” (See Ps 143:6-8). Would his prayer have been different if David had been living in luxury surrounded by servants? Not knowing where his next meal was coming from and sleeping outside every night changed his perspective. When life goes well we become self-sufficient and forget God. Spiritually speaking, we run on empty until a spark ignites an outburst. If your car’s on empty whose fault is it? The gas station hasn’t moved! You chose to drive by without stopping! When you’re running on empty you end up hurting those closest to you, then dealing with the guilt that comes after a flare-up. God said, “I will pour out water to quench your thirst.” So today pick up your Bible and refuel your soul!
