ARE YOU RUNNING ON EMPTY?

It was 9:30pm Sunday night, July 3rd! We left Colorado with all our kids, gear and a tank full of gas. I wanted to reach Lincoln, NE. early enough to have breakfast before continuing our trip to St. Paul, MN. where we would spend the night before heading to our vacation home in the UP.

Since Ogallala to Lincoln is a long, boring drive, surrounded by fields on either side, traveling at night while the kids are asleep, seemed the most logical. There is something nostalgic and almost surreal, listening to classical music while driving during the wee hours of the morning.

My full enjoyment of the trip was quickly interrupted sometime after 4am when the amber light on the dash reminded me that I was low on fuel. I didn't panic at first because gas stations have plenty and one couldn't be that far away! Or so I thought! But this was July 4th and between 4 and 5am most places were closed. What could I do if I ran out of gas? The longer I waited and the longer I drove without a gas station in sight, the more tense I became.

I prayed! Confession, panic, fear and pleading became my mantra! I needed a miracle! When the amber light showed that I was below empty, I got off the highway and followed a gravel road running parallel to it. By this time everyone in the car was awake; even the fumes from the tank couldn't carry us any further! I was flat out of gas! The car came to a complete stop near a crossroad.

A half mile away, I could see a farmhouse with a light on! I prayed I could get just a gallon of gas. From the lighted second floor window the farmer poked his head out asking what I wanted. I explained my predicament and with deep humility pled for a gallon or two of gas. When he came down to meet me, he said "follow me." He walked me to his garage, opened a large sliding door, and in wonderment I gazed at a Standard Oil Truck. He said, "I service all the surrounding gas stations." He backed up the truck, told me to hop in, and drove to where my car sat. Instead of a gallon or two of gas, he filled it up to the brim and before long we were happily on our way praising God for what He had done.

I've often reflected on that experience! At times I feel empty spiritually looking for just a gallon or two of God's blessing, when suddenly He calls out and says, "follow Me!" Then He opens the windows of heaven and in obedience to the command to "be filled with the Spirit" (Eph.5:18), He says: "whoever believes in me, streams of living water will flow from within him" (John 7:38) He wants to give us more than a gallon or two of blessing! He longs to fill us to the brim! Let this be our constant prayer: "This the secret of the holy, not our holiness but Him. Jesus! empty us and fill us, with Thy fullness to the brim."