In the last few months, I have been so blessed. I moved into a new house, got married, found out we were pregnant, got a wonderful new job, and so much more. With all of those wonderful blessings comes a lot of work. Recently, I have found myself just completely drained. Well, today, thanks to a sweet, wise sister, I realized that the reason I was so empty amongst all of these blessings is because I have been trying to do it all and take credit for it all.
I’m not normally a note taker during church or conferences; however, while she talked today, I wrote down one seemingly simple phrase: empty of me… full of Him. I really felt the first part. I felt empty and all out of energy and time, and personal resources. However, I was missing the second part. I was empty of me because I was also trying to be full of myself. We can only truly be full of Him when we CHOOSE to be empty of ourselves. My perspective was off. I was trying to take on all of the “things” by myself and then, pridefully, wanted to take credit for them. The truth is, all of those blessings came straight from the Lord; I did nothing of my own strength to earn them.
It is a conscious decision that I get to make every day whether or not I am grateful for this busy season I have been blessed with or if I lie down and complain about it. Now, that sounds simple, but I am stubborn… So, how can I make this easier? This sweet lady gave us three little words, and they are the same Sunday school answers we have heard and given for years: Worship, the Word, and Prayer. Simple right? But, it’s the conscious decision to actually make time to do those things… that is where it gets tough. Because it is a busy season, when am I going to have time???
One of my favorite Christian authors/speakers repeatedly says that you choose how tomorrow is going to go based on what you do tonight. This means that my conscious decision to wake up and be in the Word and choose to start my day with thanksgiving starts tonight by shutting off my phone early, going to bed early, and maybe even picking out tomorrow’s outfit tonight.
If we do that, we truly make a decision to start each day with worship, the Word, and prayer… I believe I will find rest in Him in our emptiness and busy seasons. In Matthew chapter 11, the Lord says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” But we have to come to him.
I believe that when I make a choice to be empty of me and full of Him, we also get to experience the blessings he has given us to the fullest extent. But we have to be full of Him and paying attention. In Numbers 6, we read,
”The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26
But in order to see His shining face and realize where these blessings truly come from, we have to let the Lord take the credit and be looking for Him and to Him.
Empty of me, full of Him.
Kristie Fowler
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#kristiefowlerblogs
