Running on Empty

Good morning church and welcome all. I am glad to be with my family today in this place. May the Lord bless our time and engage our hearts and minds in the Word as we explore the depths of His love and grace this morning. If you would go ahead and turn over to , we are going to study a bit on David today and how there were many times when his cup was empty and he felt like he had nothing left to give. I want to continue our study on the cup, because it isn’t enough to just know that we have a cup and that it needs filled, but we also must understand that sometimes our cup runs empty and in those times, ironically enough it can seem like we are way in over our heads as it talks about in : Read

Pray

Boy there is nothing worse that reaching for my cup in the morning and realizing it is empty. You know what I am talking about you don’t look, you just keep on tipping and nothing, the cup is empty, but even worse, I have sat there and done it twice, running on empty. OK, maybe there is something worse.

I remember one trip my wife and I took when we were younger. We were on our way back from visiting family and we had traveled already about 13 hours. I couldn’t remember or wasn’t paying attention to the gas tank as we flew on by so many gas stations. When I finally looked down I realized that our low fuel warning light was not working, and we were on “E”, not close, not on an 1/8 but “E”. Then I started looking and looking and looking for a gas station with none to be found. We must have traveled 40 miles before we finally saw the sign. We were praying like crazy that we would make the 5 miles to gas. As we pulled into the station we breathed a sigh of relief, we had made it. That was the day that I found out that E doesn’t stand for exciting, but E stands for exhausted. We were flat out exhausted from the stress of running on empty. David, ran on empty many times, we ready through many of the Psalms that tell of his exhausting at Saul’s and others attempts at killing him. But you know, he was called a man after God’s own heart for a reason, because even when it seemed like he was poured out and empty, he found a way and that was God. There are those times when you just don’t feel like you have anything left, David did too.

I. Just don’t have anything left –

A. Ever feel like that

1. David did

a. Even though God’s anointed

b. Faces trials at every turn

c. Saul being one of the biggest contributors

2. Throws the spear at his head

b. This happened multiple times

c. Bad bosses

3. Saul chasing him around the desert

B. Sometimes wants to give in

1. Almost does

a. Cuts the hem

b. God’ anointed

c. Realizes this is God’s to deal with –

2. Realizes who fills the cup up

a. Saul is appointed by God

b. Regardless how I feel

c. It is God who give us the strength

d. Let God judge hearts and let us love

3. That’s what happens on empty

a. Sometimes I forget who God is

b. Why the Psalms always bring me comfort

Keeps me from trying to do it all alone. It also reminds me that God is the provider

II. Burned up and Burned out

A. Doing too much for too long

1. Why this doesn’t happen to David –

a. realizes from the beginning it is God

b. Against the Philistine

c, Knows it doesn’t depend on Him

2. We all have our Goliath in life

a. The enemy that looks so big

b. Trying to beat him on our own

c. Yet God has strength for us

i. look what David says

ii.

3. Wait expectantly for deliverance

a. Exactly what prayer is for

c. How do you pray

B. No refills –

1. Why God is with us – Duet 31:8

a. Don’t get burned up

b. Don’t get hard hearted

c. Gives us gas

2. Why we have a Church family –

a. Why we have Church family

b. We fuel each other

c. Don’t have to go it alone

C. Think we have to change the world

1. Pride tells us

a. Says it depends on me

b. Think that God can’t do it without me

c. Think I am that powerful

2. Humility reminds us –

a. We are not that powerful

b. But we are important

c. God wants us at our best

D. Its OK to say no

1. Hardest lesson a pastor learns

2. But cannot help if we are out of gas

a. you don’t get my best

b. gets what’s left over

3. Why God gave the sabbath to man

a. Knew we would over due things

b. Knew we would burn candle at both ends

4. Saying No is OK

a. Even God says no sometimes

b. Sometimes it isn’t right for us

c. Sometimes it isn’t meant for us

III. E does not stand for exciting

A. Stand for exhausted –

1. cannot do it all

2. Something David knew from the beginning

a. And learned here

b. it is up to the Lord

3. Something Jesus relied upon the father for

a. Even God is three in One

b. Prayer in Gethsemane

c. It was about asking the Father’s help

d. Defeat the flesh

B. Why I need the refill

1. What is all about

2. We here it at funerals a lot

3. Want you to hear it in life today – Read (no Slide)

a. All about God being strength

b. About God being my refresh

C. Sunday is refill day

1. Sunday is a great day

a. Filled with God’s Spirit

b. Filled with God’s people

c. Devil has no power in here

2. Can fill up other days too

a. Doesn’t just have to be Sunday

D. - Remember who the cup filler is

Conclusions:

God’s wants our cup to be full all the time. The problem is we are crazy people, we get a full cup and drink it down and don’t go for the refill. Just like when I was on my trip, I started with a full tank of gas, but because I was not engaged, I let the tank get empty. The same is true in life, if we want our cup to stay full, then we have to constantly refill it. We have to constantly be about God’s ways and being with God’s people. That cannot happen just on Sunday’s, but we have to commit ourselves to the cause. This is what David did when he didn’t kill Saul, what he did when he was king. He remembered the Lord was his strength and he turned out to be a man after God’s own heart. It was the only way he survived his life. We too have that same strength when we call upon the Lord. We have the same ability to be filled up at all times, but especially in times of trouble. We have the ability to cast the Devil and his minions aside and rejoice in the Lord no matter what our situation, we don’t have to ever run on empty again.