Oil is needed for a car’s engine to run smoothly and not damage the various parts of it. It also needs gas as food, if you will, for the car to even move, would you agree? Can you think of a time when your car started acting strange? Lights came on, maybe even a sound to give you a warning that something was about to happen if you didn’t take care of what it was trying to tell you in car language. It was running out of energy; you forgot to go to the gas station to fuel up and bring the fuel gauge to point to full and not one or two ticks from being completely empty. And let’s not forget about seeing an auto smoking because it was running hot and needed something as simple as water or antifreeze to keep it cool in any type of weather, from hot to freezing temperatures.

The Car Doctor (a website I found online) says “Oil is the lifeblood of your vehicle. It keeps the many components of the engine working efficiently, and it helps reduce the accumulation of varnish and carbon from collecting on the engine.” Hmmm, interesting.

Then I found out that a car is quite happy sitting still in someone’s garage for years. It is the owner (if he/she wants the car to move) to put gas in the car. Gas provides the energy that enables the car engine to get cranking, and through a series of combustible explosions when combined with air, the wheels start to move, and the driver can make it to its destination. Bottom line: gas is a car’s energy source.

What is your energy source? What happens when you, like your car, run out of gas? My day was one of frustrations. Physically, I was still depleted for being sick the day before; instead of working at my office desk I spent more time in the bathroom. Mentally, I was depleted regarding all the stressors of being a caregiver. Many issues had been resolved, but what remained were the daily dealings with a loved one who has dementia, and the constant disagreements and arguments that go along with it. Such interaction tends to mentally linger with me for a few days. Today, I realized something: I am running out of me.

I had to admit the energy had been zapped out of me. But why is that, or better yet, why am I allowing that to happen to me, when there is a place where I can ‘fuel up’ and keep my gauge on full, never being concerned about getting on empty? Jesus stated

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” John 15: 4-6

To abide means to remain, continue, live in, not to depart. It is the Greek word meno, and its verb tense is without regard to past, present or future. It means to abide in this context is to never leave, but to remain one with Jesus. We are the branch of His vine, and it is the goal of the Father that we bear much fruit, if we continue with this abiding way of living life. What happens when we don’t? We are like a branch that has withered and is dry, not fruit-bearing, to the point that the branch is cut off and thrown out to the fire (Is this the equivalent of being burned out? Perhaps.) Dry to the point of no longer having any gas, any energy source. The engine no longer runs smoothly, it runs hot from the frustration of daily living, quickly running on empty. But the question remains:

Why?

Something else I had to realize: Living life on your own, in your own strength, is what causes the withered weariness of life. The decision to find energy from sources other than the True Vine produces nothing more than living a life of bare existence coupled with the stressors of life which become overwhelming. And being overwhelmed is not what God intended for us to handle. Instead, before the stressors of life become frustrating, and before we lose sleep over them, Jesus says abide in me.
As stated earlier, the word abide means to remain, which further implies being in a continuance state. In order for the car to continually run it must be filled with its energy source: gas. In order to keep its stressors of dust and grime from damaging the engine, oil changes must be done on a continual basis. For the believer Jesus states

“If ye abide in me,
and my words abide in you,
ye shall ask what ye will,
and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7

This is so simple. Continue in God, remain in Him, with have His Word remain in you. That means we have to know what scripture says. God’s Word is chock full of promises we can fill our tank with to combat whatever battles we face. But how can we know if the knowledge is not known? Eventually, the weariness comes, and the dryness coupled with emptiness quickly enters, developing a hopelessness which eventually leaves us like the car with no gas that can’t move forward.
But when the living word of God can envelop and abide in us, we can ask Him whatever, and God promises such requests will be done.

Abide in Jesus
Allow God’s word to abide in you
You can ask whatever, and He will make sure it gets done

Your tank will be continuously filled, and your engine will have the spiritual oil (the Word of God) needed for living life. God never intended you to run out of yourself; He encourages us to run to Him and abide.