Taking Ownership

One day last year, I was driving to church. As I was accelerating on the on-ramp to merge with highway traffic, I glanced down at my speedometer and saw it read 96! I was shocked - I had no idea I was going that fast!

I thought I had been driving at normal speeds, but when I saw the reading on my dash, I immediately slowed down.

As I got on the highway, I stayed at around 65, but something was weird. It felt like I was crawling. In fact, when I looked around, people were speeding past me left and right. It was so unsettling.

After a while, I thought - something has GOT to be wrong with my speedometer because I felt like a traffic hazard. I decided to ignore it and just drive with the flow of traffic.

I glanced at the speedometer again, and now it read 115. Yikes!

And that's when I noticed it—in a tiny font next to the number I read "km/h"!

My speedometer had somehow switched units and was displaying kilometers per hour. For reference, 60 km/his 37 mph. I had been crawling. Haha. I stayed with the flow of traffic until I figured out how to reset the units on my display.

The point of telling thisstory is that getting accurate feedback matters. We need to look at our gaugesand displays and get an accurate reading.

And once we get it, we are responsible for what it tells us.

That's what this week has been about. It's reading our gauges and taking inventory. How are we doing? Are there signs of depletion and drain, or are we fully charged and ready to roll down the God-adventure of our lives and serve others?

The important thing to remember is that if we're seeing signs of depletion, that's not failure; it's just feedback.

We are taking a look at our gauges so we can plug leaks, refuel, and get backup to speed again.

Once we take inventory and get a reading, here's what we HAVE to realize:

Recharging is our responsibility!

We have to take ownership.

It's not anyone else's job to recharge us.

It's not your spouse's job. It's not your pastor's job. It's not your friends', your team's, or your kids' job.

Our spiritual, emotional, and physical health is OUR job.

It's so easy to make excuses and have the mindset that says: I'm so drained because of XYZ, or because of so-and-so. If it wasn't because of them, or XYZ situation...! would be thriving.

But the bottom line is: God has made provision for us to thrive even in adversity. We cannot stay in a victim mindset and expect to live a victorious life. Period. The two cannot coexist.

Remember the parable ofthe 10 virgins with the oil lamps?

Oil was the source of power for a lamp back then, much like a battery would be today. The oil is what kept their light shining.

Five of the virgins had enough oil, and five ran out. The five then tried to borrow oil from the virgins who had brought enough. But the answer was, No - you have to go get your own.

When I was little and was taught by my mom to share my things, I thought this story was so un-Christ-like (even though Jesus Himself is the one telling it-haha!).

Why wouldn't they share with their friends? Was my reaction to this story.

But the point Jesus is making here is that our power-source, our oil, our connection to the Father is ours alone.

Our abiding in the vine.Our prayer life. Our devotion. Our pursuit. Our oil.

So, friend, before we dive into the ways we can stop leaks and recharge, I want you to have an honest moment with the Lord and take ownership of your life. Recognize that He has given you the power of choice, and that you determine how you will live each day.

"Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster." -Deuteronomy 30:15 NLT

You choose! What you allow and what you don't allow. How much you sleep, what you watch, who you have community with. The choice of how you build your life is yours.

By God's grace, we will build lives that are steady, powerful, and deeply rooted in Him-overflowing with the oil of His presence. I'm cheering you on as we step into next week and begin the beautiful work of recharging.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

If you would like to be able to do a complete study of Recharged, order a copy by contacting Empowered Women's Ministry at empoweredwomen@pcg.org or 817.554.5900 ext. 371. Also available at pcg.org/resources or Amazon.