Dead Battery? Thoughts for the Day, from Lynn McCann
Last week Ben, my 4-year old great grandson, and I dropped in at the church to pick up the envelopes Phyllis had prepared to be delivered for the May 31st cyber service. While I was sitting in the car visiting with Phyllis and David, my car battery died.
I didn’t know this had happened until after David had driven away. Then I noticed that I had parked right behind Phyllis’ car, blocking it in, so there was no way her car could be used to fix the situation.
No problem … I have a tiny little charger that fits in my glove box for just this occasion. I hooked it all up to my battery and turned the key. Nothing!! Even tho’ I had the tool to fix my problem, it didn’t work. It too needed charging before it could do the job!
No problem … I called my friend, Mike, at River City Auto and he came down, attached his jumper cables from his running engine to my dead one, I turned my key and immediately my car started. Yea!!!
Later, as we were recalling the day’s events, Ben said, “We go to church to recharge our battery, Gwamma.” I absolutely agreed with him! One of the reasons I go to church is to recharge my spiritual batteries!
Re-Charging Your Spiritual Battery … (This came from somewhere on Google … there was no name attached that I could find to give the proper credit to. I was astounded at how this person’s words match my own ideas and experience!)
“Have you ever had the experience of getting in your car, turning the key in the ignition only to find out that the battery was dead? You can’t move. You’re stalled. You can’t go anywhere until you get a jump. Somebody with a live battery and a set of jumper cables has to connect your dead battery to their live battery and in a few seconds or minutes you can turn your key and you’re good to go.
A similar experience occurs in our spiritual lives. Sometimes you just go flat. Sometimes you just run out of energy and you just can’t get started.
As real as it is, none of us can afford to run out of energy. We have family responsibilities that require our time and energy. We have jobs that require our time. We’ve got too much to do to go flat on the job! And yet the reality is that sometimes we do.
It was an experience of spiritual exhaustion and burnout that the Psalmist described when he said “Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why are you down in the dumps?” (Psalm 42:5)
The psalmist not only describes his condition of needing his spiritual battery re-charged, in the verses that follow, he gives us the formula for getting re-charged.
Just like you need a vehicle with a live battery to recharge your car battery, God is the vehicle to whom we should turn when we need to be energized and come back to life! He is perpetual energy, and He desires nothing more than to fill us with His Spirit and empower us to stand up to our duties and responsibilities in life.
If a car with a live battery stands next to a car with a dead battery, nothing will happen unless and until there are jumper cables to connect them and allow the power to flow from one to another.
The Psalmist says, “I will hope in God; I will continuously praise Him.” Thinking about the goodness of God in your life and praising Him for His goodness re-energizes us! Constantly thinking about how bad you feel and all that’s wrong in your life will only drain you and make you feel depressed and spiritually exhausted.
Hope in the Lord! Focus on His goodness and His power. Prayer is the jumper cables that connect our souls to Him. He will fill you with life energy for your journey.
“Be blessed.”
Today’s Scripture
Psalm 42:5 (Today’s English Version) “Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise Him, my saviour and my God.”