Putting gas back in the tank…
A couple of years ago I picked up a new hobby of purchasing old beat-up motorcycles and rebuilding them into sleek-looking cafe racers. Full-time ministry work dealt primarily with things of an intangible nature and so to have something that I could actually step back from after months of work that I could see (and ride) was richly rewarding.
If you’ve ever owned or ridden a motorcycle for any length of time, you begin to realize that on a lot of older bikes, gas gauges weren’t really a thing. It’s a bit of a head-scratcher as to why, but ask any old timer and they’d tell you that they’d typically look at the odometer, calculate your mpg based on your tank size and you were good to go… so long as you remember to look at your mileage when you fill up.
It was a gorgeous summer day and I had been spending a lot of time and energy trying to clean the carburetors on my 78’ XS400 and finally got it out for a ride. The carbs were dumping fuel and after the second attempt at rebuilding them, I finally got it right. I was taking an easy ride through the neighborhood when suddenly the engine began to sputter. Immediately I began to look for the cause… had I left the choke on? Did I miss something?
Before I had time to react, the engine cut and I slowly coasted to the side of the road. After looking over the carbs I had just reinstalled, checked the choke and a few electrical connections, it finally dawned on me. I was out of gas.
Luckily for most motorcycles, they make a little petcock that you turn that taps you into a small reserve of gas designed to give you just enough to get to a gas station. I tapped into the reserves, fired the bike back up, and was back on my way.
For far too long in life, I’ve regularly encountered people that run their tank dry. Like these old motorcycles, the engine has been sputtering for quite some time. Symptoms of anxiety, excessive eating/drinking habits, poor sleep, and the loss of joy begin to bubble to the surface. But instead of doing something about it, we do what so many often do… we just turn the radio up and ignore it.
For many of us, we’ve been functioning at a high level that has required extreme output. We’ve been racing from one thing to the next and haven’t developed any kind of spiritual rhythm to pull away and refuel. We log crazy hours doing schooling or work. We are getting far too little sleep and our responsibilities don’t stop just because we’re tired.
So what do we do? The honest answer? We flip the tank to reserve, fire the engine back up, and keep plowing ahead. “No rest for the weary,” we tell ourselves as we eat up the miles. Except now, we are getting dangerously low on our reserve tank. Some of us have even found ourselves stuck on the side of the road, but like that crazy High School friend that seemed to always drive with the gas light on, they dump in $5 of gas just so they can get back on the road.
So where does it stop? How do we get off this crazy cycle of living off the fumes just trying to make it from point A to point B and hopefully back again? Perhaps it’s been so long for some of us that we’ve forgotten there’s another way.
Thankfully, God doesn’t leave us stranded. In Matthew 11, Jesus recognized that the same breakneck pace of life was just as prevalent during His time as it is today. Recognizing the tall tale sputtering sounds of those around Him, He invites us to consider a better way:
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 MSG
The first step to recovering your life begins by spending some time with your creator. It’s in the presence of God that we begin to see ourselves as loved - not because of what we produce, but simply because we are His kids.
It’s also important to note that this starts in very simple and very small ways. Getting away doesn’t have to mean a silent retreat for a week (although I know many who would take that in a heartbeat right now if it were possible!). It could be as simple as:
Five minutes somewhere just being quiet before God - imagine his loving gaze on you
Set a daily reminder to go off that simply draws your attention to God’s presence in the midst of your daily routine. You’ll find it goes off in the hustle and bustle, the screaming kids, and the harried work meetings. The simple nudge reorients our perspective by reminding us that He isn’t outside of the mess of our lives, He’s in it with us.
Let that cup of coffee or tea be a reminder of God’s provision by being mindful of Him as you drink it.
In Spiritual Direction, I spend a lot of time helping people listen to the one voice that matters most, The Holy Spirit. As rhythms of rest, walking, and working with the Lord are developed, they begin to find they are functioning out of the overflow of what God is doing in their lives rather than coasting in on fumes.
If you’d like to find time to meet and talk more about Spiritual Direction, click here. I’d love to connect with you.
After all, what good is the most modern engine if you don’t have any gas?
