When You Need to be Filled

Some days, I am depleted.  I feel fragmented.  Spread too thin.  It's part of living life as a "jar of clay."  We are filled.  Then we are emptied.

There are seasons of battle, when the enemy tries to use exhaustion to make us throw our hands up in defeat.

Be encouraged.  It is only when we are emptied of ourselves, that we can be filled with Jesus.  It is only when we are encroaching on precious territory for the Lord that we are so fiercely targeted.  The bombardment and the emptying are both good, when we know how to receive soul-quenching fullness and fear-quieting resilience in the Lord.

I am imagining Jesus, the day he slept on the boat in the midst of the stormy sea.  I think that is a picture he painted for each of us to illustrate the rest our souls can find in Christ, regardless of the stormy circumstances around us.  

Our peace does not come from the conditions of our lives.  It comes despite them.

For those of you who are engaged in battle, remember that the battle is the Lord's.  For those of you who are stepping out in faith, taking risks for Christ, paying dearly for your faithfulness to the Lord, keep up the good work - following Jesus is dangerous and costly and right.  For those of you who are at a crossroads, I am praying for you to hear the voice of the Lord telling you which way to turn.  For those of you who are tired, remember Jesus said to come to him for rest.  For those of you who are needing to be filled, you are not alone, and the Lord sees your need, and He will fill you back up.

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strenthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fulness of God."  Ephesians 3:16-19