Refueling Our Spiritual Tanks

 

 

 

       If the time ever comes that you are close to breaking and the world and its blows have laid you low, all life seemingly extinguished, remember these words about refueling your spirit through God in Isaiah 40:29-31.

He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

But those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

    I have often felt as though I am a pain in God's neck by leaning on him for so many seemingly trivial matters, yet he always smiles that smile that says nothing is too small nor too large for Me, the living God. This is what 1 John 5:14 has to say about asking for help.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, He hears us.

When you ask for help, pray just as Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, Luke 22:42,

"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."

Ask, but God's will may contain a different scenario than the one you specifically pray for. Too often, we think God doesn't hear or answer our prayers because they are not answered in the specific way 'we' want them answered. Always keep in mind that God's will is divinely good. The answer that God gives to our prayer is always good.

      When Jesus finished praying, he was at peace and secure in the knowledge that God's will would be done regardless of his wishes and that it was good just as God is good. Our reward is not upon this earth but after this earthly life in the new world. We cannot know the reasons for God's plan nor understand them, but we must trust him because Paul tells us in Romans 12:2,

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.

    Yes, my fellow Christian, life is filled with pitfalls. We, as Christians, must not pray for the trials and tribulations to be removed from our backs but pray that God will strengthen our backs to carry the loads he has entrusted us with so that his will shall be done. Paul lays it out in words nobody can mistake in Romans 5:3-5,

...we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 

    Sounds strange, rejoice in our trials and tribulations, but Christians are not like the world. We Christians are different from the remainder of mankind. A person should be transformed by his faith in Jesus Christ. We should be a physical and spiritual testament to the goodness of our Father, God. If you are the same as before your life in Jesus Christ, where is the evidence of your faith?

    Refuel your spiritual tanks and feel the strength return to your back and the joy return to your spirit through your faith. Be a glory to God by exuding spiritual joy through your trials and tribulations. What better way to show the world how different we are? What better way to refuel your spiritual tank?