Lower Third

My wife asked me to text her before I lost service. I was heading out with my brother and some friends to the Black River in eastern Arizona. I was very excited to get away from everything normal. I was excited that my phone would not work. And I was excited to be fishing in cool weather, a cooler river, and nature’s beauty. 

Our fishing trip was filled with fun conversation, wonderful isolation, and beautiful trout. The feel of the cold water on my legs as I waded out into the river, the soft breeze that made the trees dance and kept my brow cool and invigorated, the soothing sounds of the water’s ripple, and the thrill each and every time my fishing line began to dance, really filled my tank.

To be honest, my emotional and mental gas tank has been operating in the lower third all year. Just when I seem to get a little gas is about the same time I burn that same amount of gas. At the beginning of the year I felt that Jesus whispered in my ear that I need to pay attention to my fuel this year. Last year I am sure I burned more fuel than all my other years combined. But being at the Black River for those days brought refreshing and refueling. 

When I got back home, it only took a couple of days to burn up every ounce of fuel that I had just been filled with. In fact, I even had to check out after Thursday’s unresolved issues, in order to keep enough fuel to love on my family and preach with some grace.

I normally live as someone whose soul is at least half full. To those close to me, I’m known as someone who monitors my interior life really diligently. But even though I am monitoring my interior life and paying attention to my soul’s fuel, I still can’t seem to get above half full. 

I have been learning that, as followers of Jesus, we are wrong if we think the goal is to always feel full. And we are “off” if we get to the place where a radical vacation is necessary to get filled up again. The true goal should be to find ourselves walking in the unforced rhythms of God’s grace. Jesus’ disciples pray every day for the Lord to give them their daily bread. That is the bread they need for today — not tomorrow. For the follower of Christ there is a constant filling up and pouring out. Though Jesus was constantly being poured out, we are told that He often withdrew to a quiet place. 

Stillness in our fast-paced city, and humility about what we can and can’t do — both are very important right now. I think there are a lot of people unaware of how low their soul’s gas tank is. And some do not know the difference between being full and living on Dateline and caffeine. 

I encourage you today to take stock of your soul’s fuel. If you find yourself on the empty side, remember that Jesus said to come to Him and He will give you rest — the kind of rest that fills yours soul. Instead of planning a radical vacation, start to carve out some stillness in His presence for the next few days and see what happens. 

Grace, peace and rest to you,

David