Scenes in recent days at petrol stations in the UK have reminded us sharply that fuel is an essential commodity in the modern world. Travelling is a key part of everyday life in the U.K., and it’s clear that if we feel we are running on empty and can’t go about our normal business, we feel threatened and insecure.
Panic buying doesn’t help the situation, but it has highlighted people’s fragile thinking. Similarly, in the spiritual world, we are not meant to run on our own fuel, but to be fuelled by God’s Spirit, a situation that our independent spirits often dislikes.
There is no lack of power or energy in God. The ‘life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit’ (Rom 15:13) is always available to us; He will never run dry. Our problem is that we often try to run on our own fuel, on the resources and skills we all possess naturally. Initiative, enthusiasm, innovation and sheer doggedness are all useful, but these are also all finite fuels, whereas the Holy Spirit is God and therefore infinite. He will never run dry; His power and energy are sufficient to last a lifetime and beyond!
Just as we do need to go to a petrol station for fuel in the natural realm, we need to come to God daily for re-filling in the spiritual realm. When Paul urged the Ephesians to be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18), He used the word for continually being filled. The infilling of the Holy Spirit is not a one-off event. It is the source of our strength every day and there are no queues at this filling station! God is always with us, but we do need to come to the well to be filled.