Last week, I began to introduce what a dashboard for spiritual health might look like in a believer’s life. I did so by comparing the complicated variables in our lives to the intricate mechanisms monitored by our cars’ dashboards. Just as I’ve never seen a car with only one dial on its dashboard, we cannot expect to monitor our spiritual health with a single measurement. So, just as we compared the disciplines that create a desire and appetite for the Word to the RPM gauge in our car last week, this week, I’d like to consider an even more essential gauge to monitor — the fuel gauge. This dial delivers an indication of the amount of gas in the tank. A driver can expect to drive a greater distance when the tank is full. Likewise, when the tank is low, the driver can expect to add a stop to their planned route or risk getting stranded on the roadside.
In my analogy, fuel represents the Christian’s awareness of God’s presence in their life. Unless the Christian understands God working all things according to His glory, it will be impossible to draw closer to Him in the coming year. God is an intensely personal and relational Being. Treating Him as though He were a power or principle is an insult. Good things like Bible study, theology, ministry and the church can become substitutes for loving God. As a countermeasure, maturing Christians should ask God for the grace of increased passion for Jesus so that, by the power of the Spirit, we will come to love our Lord as the Father loves Him. FUEL is another acronym to help us understand how to develop and maintain this awareness.
• Frequently directing our thoughts to God is the F in FUEL Paul directed the church in Thessalonica to “rejoice always, pray without ceasing” and “give thanks in all circumstances” (I Thess. 5:16-17 ESV). This command is a practical instruction for growing our relationship with God. We often talk about the importance of developing a biblical worldview. Doing so is impossible if our thoughts are not on divine and eternal things. Unless we embrace the practice of frequently thinking of God and His goodness, we will succumb to thinking as the world thinks. Constantly being in a state of prayer helps the Christian to maintain this focus and attention.
• Understanding life’s circumstances from God’s perspective is the U in FUEL. When our thoughts are constantly on God, we naturally begin to understand and interact with the world around us differently. Instead of seeing trivial coincidences, we understand sovereignly orchestrated circumstances. There are no accidents in our lives. While men can plan their way, the Lord establishes each step (Prov. 16:9). It has been helpful for me to slow down amid frustrations to seek the Lord’s direction. The added benefit of adopting a biblical worldview is that it puts Christians in a position to “be ready to encourage others with truth,” as Paul instructed believers to do in I Thess. 4:18. Our natural tendency to ask, “How does this affect me?” lends itself to developing a self-centric concept of the world. When we push ourselves to ask instead, “How does God see this?” our priorities are reordered for the better.
• Expecting God to accomplish His will is the third letter of our acronym explaining how we can maintain an awareness of God’s person and presence in our lives. Generally, I have observed a diminished expectation of God among Christians. Perhaps it is the discouragement of seeing our associations and churches dwindle. Living life with a lack of expectation is like an empty fuel tank in a car. Christians must be reminded that God often moves in the most profound ways when circumstances look the bleakest. How often did God prevail for Israel in combat when they were outnumbered against their adversaries? How many prophets and kings were brought to absolute despair before they abandoned their self-reliance and turned to God? Preachers need to expect that the messages they prepare throughout the week when they’re faithful to God’s Word will result in the response of their audiences. Christians must live with the expectation that if they live according to God’s Word, God will prevail for them according to His great purposes. When we live with the hopeful expectation that Christ’s return is imminent, it prompts us to be ready. If we were constantly prepared, we would be more urgent in missions, more passionate in preaching and more faithful in our service. Our Christian expectation is fuel in our tank.
• Listening to the Spirit’s prompting and guidance is the final indicator of FUEL. At multiple points in our pursuit to become more like Christ by drawing closer to God, we discover the nature of faith. The first moment comes when we are converted by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. Along the way, there are likely to be more lessons that remind and refresh the Christian’s concept of faith. I experienced these moments when I first surrendered to ministry, decided to enroll at the BMA Theological Seminary and left my home church to pastor Denver Street in Greenwood. I admit that the word “listening” is not as precise as I would like. I’m not implying that God audibly speaks. He has done much more than that in inspiring and preserving the Holy Scriptures to communicate with His people. Nevertheless, the forbidding and permitting of the Spirit described in Acts 16:6-10 before Paul and Silas responded to the Macedonian vision still exists in our lives. No particular Scripture directed me explicitly in any of the personal examples I provided. Instead, an awareness of God and His provision of peace aided me in discerning what I believe to be God’s will. The so-called “listening” I am advocating for is simply recognizing that the Spirit is responsible for guiding us. As such, Christians should become accustomed to seeing the hand of the Lord in our lives.
