Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. - Ephesians 6:10. 

The Federal Aviation Administration publishes a monthly aviation safety newsletter written by Fred P. Harms. I stumbled onto their December 2001 newsletter entitled “Almost Stupid” in which Fred says, “In any given year fuel mistakes by pilots account for roughly 10% of the accidents by general aviation. There are usually two distinct types of errors leading to either fuel starvation or fuel exhaustion. Fuel starvation occurs when there is fuel aboard the aircraft, but it does not reach the engine, either because of mistakes in switching fuel flow controls, or because of contaminants in the fuel, or blockage in the supply lines. The second type is fuel exhaustion, when all usable fuel is expended.” Fred sums up his article by saying, “Pilots don’t intend to have accidents. When they occur they are usually the consequence of human factors, not stupidity. Running out of gas however is almost stupid.” 

A frequent cause of the loss of spiritual power is not an empty fuel tank, but some type of blockage. Blockages can come about through a variety of ways including: failing to treat your wife with honor (1 Peter 3:7), grieving (Ephesians 4:30) or quenching (1 Thessalonians 5:19) the Holy Spirit, failing to confess our trespasses or faults (James 5:16), and through being prideful (1 Peter 5:5). 

The ages old reason for a lack of spiritual power is a lack of fuel. How do we fuel up spiritually? By praying (Luke 18:1), by having an intake of God’s Word (Matthew 4:4), by assembling with other believers (Matthew 18:20; Hebrews 10:24-25). 

The fact is that most of us know that there are some things that we need to avoid spiritually, and to do spiritually. Fred Harms says, “One reason pilots run out of gas is that they don’t know how much (fuel) they have even when it is full.” That can be our problem as well. Losing power, using up our spiritual fuel, occurs gradually; and we may not even know we are sitting on empty, until the crash comes. 

What’s the solution for us? Don’t wait until you crash, fill up every day so you will know you have the spiritual fuel needed to face the challenges of each day. Remember Fred P. Harms says, “Running out of gas…is almost stupid.”