THOUGHTS

April 26, 2020

A revision from 2014

Running on Empty?

I have Sjogrens, an autoimmune disease that causes dryness: dry mouth, dry throat, dry skin, dry innards.  I crave water and have a bottle or glass with me at all times.  My refrigerator has two pitchers of water, a gallon of bottled water, and a pack of water bottles at all times.  I love where I live now, but the only drawback is that I can't drink the water from the faucet.  The thought of being without water makes me feel like panicking.  It's ridiculous because my kids on the other side of the pool would gladly bring me a jug at any time.  Not only that, Walmart delivers gallons on my doorstep .  I find that I'm almost as excited about the water on my stoop as I am about groceries, even ice cream.  I also crave the Living Water.

Empty words.  No one wants to offer empty words like offering an empty glass to one dying of thirst.  No one wants empty promises like a shell of an ice cream cone without a scoop of ice cream.  No one wants to leave an empty life like a tombstone that is not worth inscribing a name or dates on its slab or a blank obituary that can only offer a description of a life that not even a dog could love.

No one wants to walk around on empty, feeling like their insides are caving in, living on fumes, wondering when they will come to a complete stand-still.  Empty.  

But how can we be filled unless we are empty?  When we are empty, then we can be filled and offer living water to others, words from the Word.  We can offer the Word that is sweeter than honey to a world that is waiting for something good.   We can be so overflowing that we leave a legacy to cherish and an example to follow.  We can be filled, filled to overflowing.   Just ask the Holy Spirit to fill you.  

One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 55:11.

"So shall My Word be which goes forth from My mouth;

Without accomplishing what I desire,

And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it."

That's the Word we can be filled with, speak boldly of.  It is a Word of hope.  We don't dig up the seeds to check on their progress, but we can run to overflowing with His Word spilling out, speaking it, planting it, watering with daily prayer, carefully tending it and waiting.  Hope.  Trust.  It's called going forward to an unknown future with a known God.

"Living with hope in the face of mystery." 

(Mrs. Rick Warren after their mentally ill son's suicide.)

"And when it is empty,

it will fill again."

Gregory Orr

"Be silent or let thy words be worth more than silence."

Pythagoras