In my sophomore year at Central Baptist College in Conway, AR I was leading the singing in revival services about 100 miles to the south of our campus. Money was very tight and as I was driving down for the services one evening my gas gauge began to stare back at me reaching “empty.” It was so low that I began praying for God to stretch out what little fuel I had. Then I covered up the gauge on the dash with a piece of paper so I could not see it any longer. Fortunately, I made the services, on fumes, and a member filled up my tank after the services.
Some of you are going full steam ahead while running on empty right now and you are trying to not look at your dashboard that is showing empty. You cannot give what you do not have and you will come to a screeching halt at some point. Your focus on ministry, mobilizing your team, and planning your next steps has caused you to begin running on spiritual fumes. Those times of joy, being full of His presence, along with His daily freshness and vitality in your spiritual walk are only a memory. What you do is very important but who you are is even more important.
The danger is real because it is very easy to become so focused on the external issues of getting your ministry where you believe God desires it to be, that you ignore the crucial internal issues of spiritual transformation and health. In Leading on Empty Wayne Cordeiro says, “We don’t forget that we are Christians. We forget that we are human, and that one oversight alone can debilitate the potential of our future.” We all have limits (spiritual, emotional, physical, time, gifts, etc.) and we need to see them as a blessing from the Lord and not a curse.
II Corinthians 12:9 says, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.’ Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.” You may not like admitting your weaknesses or your inabilities but it is wisdom to understand you definitely have limitations and God shows up when we embrace that reality. Your nature may be that you want to go around your limits, conquer limits, deny, and break through them. Actually, they are a gift from God to protect you!
God gave us limits to serve as guardrails placed in our lives to keep us from straying outside His will and to continue trusting in Him. This is actually counterintuitive to us as it goes against our culture that teaches us that we can handle it ourselves and we don’t need anyone’s help. Be a self-made leader and pull yourself up by your own bootstraps may be how you were raised. Don’t depend on anyone else because you can do anything you put your mind to. You have to reconcile that with what Jesus said, “Without me you can do nothing!”
One of the greatest dangers of leadership is the temptation to rely to heavily on our charisma and competencies while paying too little attention to our character and core identity through our personal walk with Christ. It is easy to lead without Jesus short term but you will end up paying a very steep price long term. Pete Scazzero says, “The reality is that it is easy to live as a Christian doing religious acts and doing Christian things without necessarily being in loving union with Jesus.” Sometimes we live out the old adage, “fake until you make it!”
First, learn to slow down and abide in Christ. Abiding means you remain in Him and you are able to relax in Him. You cannot live at warp speed without warping your soul! Think of Mary and Martha. You may be a Martha who is a doer and what you do is important but who you are is of even greater importance. Sometimes our doing exceeds our being in Christ and before you know it you are running on empty and getting close to shutting down.
Second, think about silence and solitude so you can hear God’s voice in your life. Dallas Willard referred to silence and solitude as the two most radical disciplines of the Christian life. Solitude is finding that quiet space where you intentionally remove yourself from people and things in order to focus 100% on God. Silence is striving to quiet every inner and outer voice to be attentive to the Lord’s direction and presence. Silence is the Christians number one need while being the hardest to develop. It is very challenging in this busy and noisy world.
Lastly, wait on the Lord. King David stressed its importance by saying it twice in Psalm 27:14. Do not wait on the Lord only for what He will do for you or for the results you desire but simply to spend time with Him. David reminds us of this in Psalm 27:4, “I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking Him in His temple.” You must actually limit what you are doing by focusing on being with Him realizing that He can accomplish so much more than you can!
Without slowing down, being silent and in solitude, and waiting on the Lord it will be almost impossible to live a healthy spiritual life! Are you running on empty?