The cold of winter often leaves certain motorists with dead or almost dead batteries. Not having enough power to simply start the car, the driver finds they are in need of a jumpstart.
Using a battery that is charged and an engine that is running, the process of a temporary boost to the weakened battery is completed. The stranded driver should now let his engine run for awhile, to allow the car’s systems to recharge its own battery.
The analogy for our lives is so clear isn’t it? Many times we find ourselves in need of a jumpstart. I am not just talking about our relationship with God, although I include that as well, but at our jobs, in our marriages, relationships with our kids, parents, friends, and whatever else in life we approach with passion or purpose.
This is not about some glaring sin or error on our part, sometimes it’s just life wearing on you and slowly draining the power out of your “battery”. Life is tending to a sick child or elderly parent, dealing with a difficult boss or employee, or just keeping up with the demands of today’s fast paced lifestyle. We just get tired, bored, indifferent, or dispassionate about things and find it hard to “just get going”.
God has several ways to jumpstart us and get us back on the road. I can’t tell you how many times I have been absolutely motivated and energized by a time of worship at church, or a great and timely message from the pulpit. Or, a friend will say just the right thing to help me locate myself and give me the boost I need to continue on. A song on the radio, a written note, or even a hug from a child, can all be God’s way of finding us stranded on the side of the road, and give us a jumpstart.
Once we are back in motion, we need to let our engine run a while, so our battery can fully recharge and run all the systems it is designed to power. Jumper cables are designed for a temporary circumstance and they are not supposed to remain connected once the stranded car starts.
It would look strange indeed to see two cars driving side by side connected by jumper cables. So, get your boost and use it to fuel your own charging system. Let corporate worship inspire your private devotion, use that great sermon to energize your personal bible study, and take any encouragement given to you and speak life to someone else.
It can be annoying if you own jumper cables and are constantly being asked to give the same person a “jump”. Not because there is an issue with their own system, but because they simply go from one place to another, constantly stopping and shutting their engine off, instead of letting it run! They come out to find battery is dead again and they speed dial you one more time to come and “help a brother out”. They refuse to spend time in God’s presence, or in the company of empowering people, or read their own bible. Instead they take every opportunity to take on too much, too soon, and are quickly drained of what little power they had.
I was “that guy” recently, and the tow truck driver let me know (on the second request) that he had reached his limit and was prepared to take my vehicle to the shop against my will. I promised him (ever done that with God?) that I would take the vehicle to a safe place and let it run for a while, and that is exactly what I did.
The next time I needed the vehicle, it was fully operational and all systems were “go”. How much time and energy was wasted, and not just mine, because I didn’t do the right thing the first time?
We all need a jumpstart from time to time, but when you get your “boost”, do the right thing and stay in the place where you can recharge fully, and not just enough to get to the next place you will require another jumpstart. Stay in His presence, in your prayer closet, in the company of good friends. Get connected…get charged…stay charged by continuing activities that energize, motivate, and inspire you. Then you can be the one someone calls when they need a “jumpstart”.
Everyday God... 