The ‘I Don’t Know’ Gas Tank
Read The Daily:
May Christ make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. And may your roots grow down deep into God’s love. Ephesians 3:17
I remember my wife saying, “I don’t know” when I asked if she had gas in her car. It wasn’t like it was a week later, she had just gotten home. I felt like my logic was air tight “When you get in a car, you look at how much gas you have.” She simply said, “Well, I don’t” It turns out some of us just… don’t check. We just get in and go, assuming the tank is full enough. It’s funny, but it also made me think about how often we operate our lives the same way. We jump into our days, our relationships, our work, and just hope we have enough ‘fuel’ to get through it all, without ever really checking the gauge.
Paul prays in Ephesians that our roots would grow down deep into God’s love. It’s not about just a quick glance at the fuel level; it’s about being deeply rooted. This isn’t about trying harder or just ‘doing more.’ It’s about tapping into a source that’s meant to sustain us. When we don’t check our fuel, we can end up running on empty, feeling exhausted and wondering why life feels so hard. Maybe, just maybe, we’re not designed to run on fumes. Maybe we’re designed to be deeply rooted in something that never runs dry.
It’s easy to get caught up in the ‘busy and tired’ cycle, assuming that’s just how life is. But what if there’s a simpler, easier way? What if the exhaustion comes from running on the wrong fuel? Paul’s prayer isn’t for us to try harder, but to be empowered with inner strength. That strength comes from being deeply rooted in God’s love, a love that’s meant to be our constant, reliable fuel source.
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Prayer for the Day
God what are you showing me? What am I going to do about it?
God help me to see one person that I can serve through a kind word, random act of kindness, or simple gift today?
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Read The New Testament In A Year
(There were more than five thousand people in the crowd.) But he went ahead and directed his disciples, “Sit them down in groups of about fifty.” They did what he said, and soon had everyone seated. He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread and fish to the disciples to hand out to the crowd. After the people had all eaten their fill, twelve baskets of leftovers were gathered up. One time when Jesus was off praying by himself, his disciples nearby, he asked them, “What are the crowds saying about me, about who I am?” They said, “John the Baptizer. Others say Elijah. Still others say that one of the prophets from long ago has come back.” He then asked, “And you–what are you saying about me? Who am I?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.” Jesus then warned them to keep it quiet. They were to tell no one what Peter had said. He went on, “It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the religious leaders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and on the third day be raised up alive.” Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat–I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I’m leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels. This isn’t, you realize, pie in the sky by and by. Luke 9:14-26
Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God. If our Message is obscure to anyone, it’s not because we’re holding back in any way. No, it’s because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won’t have to bother believing a Truth they can’t see. They’re stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get. Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful. If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. 2 Corinthians 4:1-9