Mark Sorensen It was October of 1999 when pro golfer Payne Stewart and three others boarded a small jet in Orlando, Florida, headed to Dallas, Texas. As the plane reached its designated altitude and was switched over to autopilot, the cabin pressure suddenly dropped and everyone on board lost consciousness due to a lack of oxygen. Fighter jets scrambled to make contact with those on board but there was nothing that could be done. The aircraft ran out of fuel four hours after takeoff and went down in a field in South Dakota. Truly, a heartbreaking accident.
A pastor shared that story recently and said that, surprisingly, was an analogy to his own life many years ago. He said that, if you could have seen that Learjet on the runway in Orlando before it took off, you would have been impressed with its appearance on the outside. However, on the inside, it was a much different story as it flew across the U.S. Fil Anderson, in the book Running on Empty, went on to say that, “My life – like the Learjet on autopilot – had become a ghostly journey as I maintained a deadly course with an incapacitated soul. My ability to see clearly had become nil, outside efforts to get me to change course were refused, and my last bit of fuel was depleted. I was obsessed with helping others have the kind of relationship with God that I had never known.”
What a powerful, and oftentimes true, observation. How important it is to look on the inside and see where we are.
As we wrapped up our Perfectly Imperfect sermon series last week, we looked at the woman at the well in John 4. It’s safe to say that she was running on empty sitting at the well on that hot Samaria day. However, Jesus would offer her Living Water that would fill and sustain. Perhaps you’re there. Perhaps you’ve been running for too long and you’re not OK on the inside. The good news, my friend, is that Christ beckons you to rest and offers true nourishment for your soul. Just as He met the woman at the well and offered her Living Water in the midst of her brokenness, He offers the same to each of us through the power of His Holy Spirit who is very much at work and alive in the world today.
So, slow down. Stop. Rest. Ask God to reveal where you are on the inside. And then? Drink. Find your delight in Him. Remember these words from David in Psalm 1:
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked… but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on it day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.
