The Pastor’s Pen

By Steven Temple

 

Running on full is not something that we hear. The more common phrase is running on empty or running on fumes. We speak this a lot as we navigate this life trying to do all that we need to do, rarely able to sit down and take a break.

For many months, after we purchased our home, I would pass by our couch and think one day I would get a chance to sit on it. Constantly having something going on that I needed to do or take care of left me feeling like I was running on empty. There was so much going on at this time that it was a few months before I was able to sit down and relax for an hour before it was time to go to bed. I was going non stop from before daylight to well after the sun would set. I was to the place that I was longing for an evening with no plans or places to be.

There is an alternate course that we have gone through in our lives that causes us to run on empty. I can remember many years ago that I knew something was missing in my life but I did not know what it was. I tried to fill this void with many different things. I tried hobbies, television, reading, and even to the point of drinking, but nothing satisfied this emptiness that I felt.

Many others have been met with this in their lives and have found themselves trying to fill this emptiness with alcohol and drugs. They have tried so many different avenues to fuel what they are lacking to no avail. Sadly, it begins to grow on them more and more and the more they will partake of these addictions to try to fulfill this emptiness in their lives. It grows in such a manner that it begins to take over their lives and they find themselves in an unforgiving circle. Truly running on empty.

I would like to tell you an overnight success story of how I found the cure for the emptiness that I was experiencing but that is not the facts. Years passed as I ventured into this or that trying to fill that place in my life. Many sufferings and setbacks occurred on the way. I could not figure out what it was that was lacking in my life that would fill this emptiness that led me down this path.

After some time and many struggles I heard the Gospel of Jesus. It was here, that the Spirit of God began to call out to me. Jesus called into my emptiness and I finally knew what that void was. It took some time for me to break down and follow what was calling me. I looked in every direction seeking that fulfillment, however, I never once sought for it from the Lord. I leaned on my own devices, on my own knowledge, my own understanding, and did not know to seek after the goodness of the Lord. I didn’t know that was what was missing.

I am hopeful as you read this in search of filling that void in your own life that you will not take the long road like I did. It is physically exhausting trying to find something that you don’t even know what you are looking for or missing to begin with. This void cannot be filled with the things of this earth no matter the degree we consume of it. We will constantly be running on empty.

We are overcomers. We can arise. We can have this void filled. John 1:16 says, “And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” We can find ourselves running on full when we come to Jesus. We can be ‘run-ragged’, as the saying goes, yet we can find ourselves running on full because of who Jesus is. He is our strength when we are weak, He is our warmth in the times of cold, He is our mercy in times of mercilessness, He is our fullness in times of emptiness. There is no other way to fill this void or emptiness in our lives than allowing Jesus to enter. We can not find the solution on prescription pad, on a bottle, or in a syringe, it is only found when we submit and allow Jesus to fill it. Save yourself some time and heartache today by allowing Christ in your life. You can be running on full.

 

Rev. Steven Temple is the Pastor of The Church on the Hill in Rose Hill, VA and welcomes you to come visit. Services times are as follows: Sunday morning Bible Study at 10am, Sunday service at 11am, and Wednesday evenings at 7pm. The church is located at 681 Highpoint Road, Rose Hill, VA.