“When It Feels Like You’re Riding on Fumes”

Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues? Fix my eyes on God — soon I’ll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He’s my God. Psalm 42:5 Message

Tired and worn out. Exhausted to the point of being completely spent. I had run out of gas! I was done.

Had I heard wrong? Maybe it was all wishful thinking on my part — could I have romanticized these thoughts? As noble and well-intended as they were, I just didn’t know if I had landed where I now was as a result of wrong way decisions. Surely, GOD would not have allowed me to travel down this road — or would He?

Our GOD is bigger than any problem you or I currently face. Getting ahead of what He has purposed will cause the best of us to thrust into drive and hit the accelerator without first taking the need to The Lord. Naturally, we’ll spend excessive ‘fuel’ on activity (mental and emotional) that likely could have been used elsewhere. And then there we are — on empty and wondering what went wrong.

Sometimes we just need to park, pray and ponder before going any further.

Let me give you a great big (((hug))) if you are presently in a hot mess and feeling just flat out spent. I. Have. Been. There. The loneliness from self-isolation doesn’t help either (embarrassment and the pity party of one is not a winning combination). Here’s a jump starter: reach out and talk to someone you trust. Sometimes ‘Jesus with skin’ sets us back on our feet and headed in the right direction. And if you can, pray with that trusted friend. Sometimes hearing someone else verbalize and articulate what we cannot seems to hit the ignition button on the healing and restoration process.

What is pressing on your heart at this time?
What is keeping you up at night?
Write it down — take it to the Lord in prayer.
Reach out to a trusted friend and just talk.

In the meantime, let’s readjust our lens and revisit our Scripture verse. If you’re anything like me, your eyes will find a ‘trail’ of words in Scripture that you didn’t notice that last time you walked through the same passage of words. The Psalmist repeated these same exact words from 42:5 into 42:11 and again in 43:5.

Hope — the Psalmist knew beyond the shadow of doubt, that if he placed his hope in the one true GOD, that He would again lift him up from his terrible slump and dump. And the Psalmist doesn’t stop there. He commits himself to praising GOD — even in the midst of his messy situation. His past experiences with GOD gave him the confidence to praise Him knowing that there would eventually be changes in his circumstances — even while he didn’t yet see them. Confident trust.

That’s what happens when you’ve experienced Jesus. Your spiritual memory bank can do a recollection of past experiences when He showed up and did the miraculous. And like our Psalmist, you bank on the faithfulness and consistent character of GOD. Hope.

Think back on the times GOD has:
- Provided for a need (financial, physical, material, etc.);
- Healed you, a loved one, a friend from a sickness;
- Protected you, family members, loved ones from danger;
- Answered your prayers on behalf of others’ needs.

I’m sure your lists extend far beyond this. These are all evidence of the love and grace and faithfulness of the GOD Who created you and continues to care for you. He desires for you and I to depend upon Him.

So when we’re feeling overwhelmed by the distractions of this earthly life, we need to remember that we are over-comers in Christ and refuel with His Promises of strength, courage and perseverance. Pull up to the pump, Sister, there’s plenty for all of us!