Some mornings I wake up with the “Drearies” hanging in my head. They shroud everything. Make it hard to meet the day. That’s clue to me…                                                                                                                  My tank is on empty.

Should have stopped and filled the tank last night after work  because this morning it’s going to be fumes getting me where I need to go kind of thing. And precious little time to stop and fill up on the way. Scripture tells me to keep on being filled with the Spirit. To build myself up in my most holy faith. To take a day of rest. To come apart for a while before I come apart. Before I unravel at the seams from the inside out…

In our day we call it Self Care. In the travel world the flight attendant tells us to get the oxygen mask on first then help others. Wait a minute though, how does that “me first” fit with laying down my life, with being the servant, losing my life to find it and so on? Sometimes we see scripture seeming to contradict itself…I see it though, as the pedals on a bike…not Either/Or but rather Both/And…needed to move the bike forward. And riding takes some practice with balance until balance becomes natural.

Admittedly we sometimes pull away to refuel with things that do not give us a true filling. Absolutely vacation days, hobbies, a new hair style are self care and are legit. But we neglect the pulling apart to pray in the Spirit. This can be through out our day  inwardly acknowledging  and whispering the Spirits prayer from our hearts in our busy days. It can also be separating a time to sit with God bathing in the water of His Word. Not because I HAVE to as a RULE but because I GET to and it settles the storms in me, fills the emptiness in me. It can be those times getting together at church or small groups.

So many of us wear the Badge of Busy-ness. We work as though our salvation depends upon it and was not bought for us by Jesus as a gift not a reward. I am not trying to make one more rule for my life or yours, but simply trying to line up with the Owners Manual for my life so I run better and longer. So I will walk this life in a way to finish well.  See you at the filling station.