As Bill Hybels continues Chapter 1 of Simplify, he surmises you’ve been empty so long, you’ve forgotten what replenishes your bucket, what replenishes your soul. Pastor Hybels cautions, however, that before you can establish a plan for keeping your bucket filled, it’s vitally important that you understand why you’re so depleted in the first place. For example, you may:
a. be afraid to say no to your boss, spouse, or kids
b. derive a disproportionate amount of your self-worth from overachievement
c. feel guilty for spending time doing something for yourself when others are in such need
Choice C, the author notes, is backward thinking. When you’re running on empty, you have absolutely nothing to offer others. As Pastor Hybels observes:
“You can’t give what you don’t have. Engaging in replenishment activities is . . . vital to the end goal of living your one and only life at its best. Be unapologetic about it. Prioritize and protect those replenishment streams in your life.”
Pastor Hybels states our natural human tendency is to start looking around for someone to pull us out. He stresses with crystal clarity it’s our responsibility to fill our bucket and to keep our bucket filled.
Next, Pastor Hybels discusses five bucket-filling streams of replenishing energy that will take us from a depleted state to filled to the brim and overflowing.
Today’s question: During your desert, land between time, what replenishes your soul? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Connecting with God”
