Really, ask yourself and answer honestly: Is it time to refuel?
Emptiness is defined as "the quality of lacking meaning or sincerity; meaninglessness" For more on meaninglessness, read the book of Ecclesiastes.
Fullness is defined as “the state of being filled to capacity” or “the state of being complete or whole.”
Do you see the difference?
In honesty, we can all say that we have those times in life where we don’t feel very full, and those times are often when we get alone. We are fooled into believing that we’re alone, when, in actuality, God never leaves us alone.
Now let’s be honest, the business of our everyday lives presents us with countless distractions. Distractions can very well be bad things, but they can also be good things. Distractions can come in the form of social situations, academic situations, stressful situations, etc. The importance here is that these distractions temporarily fill the void when we are running on empty. This explains why at the end of the day (when the distractions are gone) we feel a weird feeling, partly sad, partly exhausted, but in simplest terms, we feel empty.
So think about it… fullness is the biggest thing God has to offer us. He never designed us to live in emptiness.
A key verse for believing this is John 10:10, when Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
We all know and believe that Jesus came to give us salvation, but do we also know and believe that he came to give us a full life? (Also see Psalm 91:14-16.) He wants us to be happy, to be energized, to be full, but only in him. We may think we are full apart from him, but we are only fooling ourselves. We can't have the best of both worlds; when we allow our hearts to focus on the things of this earthly life apart from Jesus, we are separating ourselves from the fullness He wants to give us. How could we ever think we could be full apart from our Creator? Acts 17:28 tells us, “For in Him we live and move and have our being.” It is in Him that we live: physically, emotionally, mentally, obviously spiritually, and even socially.
Going to Jesus for Full Life: What does that look like?
God’s got the answers more than I would like to think I do, so first simply pray on it. Open up to God like you would a friend, and see what He puts on your heart. Talk to God daily or even throughout the day. I think this is so important because just as a human to human relationship needs communication, so does your relationship with God.
Get back into The Word daily. We can’t expect to be filled if we aren’t taking in anything that God has to say to us. See this as a way of spending time with God.
Be mindful of your thoughts. Are you remembering that Jesus gives abundant life or are you allowing distractions to cloud your mind? Proverbs 4:23 tells us, “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.”
Be thankful. Of everything from your salvation in Jesus to the good weather outside, be thankful. Know that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)
Love others. We all know this can be a challenging one, but really, taking the focus off of yourself and your own problems and being happy for others instead can be so filling.
Rest. Don't allow the distractions of living an overly busy life to keep you from living a full life. We see that God calls us to rest on the Sabbath Day, but He also wants us to rest in general. We see this in Matthew 11:28 when Jesus says, "Come to me all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest." (Also see Matthew 11:30.)
