Filling Your Tank

We watched a video at the CBS retreat of a speaker named Wayne Cordeiro. One of the things he talked about was how we are all like tanks with an opening at the top and at the bottom. Some things fill our tanks and some things drain it. We must have a balance of things that fill and things that drain it on a regular basis or we will wear ourselves out, leading to more severe consequences in the long run.

He suggested we make a list of the things that fill our tanks and the things that drain them. Here is what I have come up with (in no particular order):

Things that Fill My Tank
Being by myself
Bible study
My dogs (when they are healthy and behaving)
Don (when things are going well between us which is, thankfully, most of the time)
Walking
Good fellowship with those I love

Things that Drain My Tank
Being with people
Don (when things aren’t going smoothly between us)
Sitting still for any extended length of time
Strife between people I’m close to, whether I’m directly involved or not
Cold weather

Other thoughts
- I think that junk food gives me a temporary false sense of a filled tank but actually drains it. So does spending mindless time on the computer.
- I got my tank filled this weekend at the retreat but afterward was ready to be home and spend some time by myself and with Don and the dogs.
- There is a fine line between some of the things that are on opposite lists.

The speaker suggested we have our spouse make a list too. Don didn’t write one out, but we talked about it. He likes to be by himself (we have a nicely laid out two-story house which makes this possible for us), and people drain him. The dogs fill his tank. Playing drums seems to do it for him, and he also likes to lay around and watch TV, especially "concert DVD’s. Financial worries drain him. When I started to talk about him filling/draining my tank, the conversation got a little too serious for him and he started making jokes, so I still don’t know what I do for his tank. I think serious conversation must drain his. Oh well.

What fills/drains your tank?

An Unexpected Answer

I have always sort of felt that if I prayed about something and didn’t get a clear answer, it was because I wasn’t right with God. Lately I have been realizing that God has provided us with His word, and it contains many of the answers we need. Such was the case this week.

I had a dilemma at work that there seemed only one solution to. I had prayed about it and hadn’t come up with any good answer, so I made a tentative decision to go behind someone’s back and do something that I wasn’t supposed to do. A co-worker agreed to be my accomplice. I knew in my heart it wasn’t right and kept reminding God that it was the only real solution. Finally, a little voice told me to ask the person over me, whose authority I was planning to defy, for permission to do this thing. I asked God to give me the opportunity if He wanted me to ask her. He gave me an open door yesterday morning.

I wasn’t expecting her to be understanding, but I knew at this point that I had to accept whatever decision she made. I explained the situation to her. At first she didn’t give me a yes or a no, but later in the day she called me and told me that it was okay to do what I was planning to do. I am so relieved that now I can do it with a clear conscience.

I realize that the Holy Spirit will never direct us to do anything that goes against God’s Word, but He may serve as our conscience when we are plotting a bad decision. I am thankful that I listened to His voice this time. God does have answers to our problems, even when we don’t. We should never go against His Word, even if we don’t see any other good solutions.

Sometimes I have to learn things the hard way.