I don't know about you, but I desire to be so full of God that He flows out of me and touches everyone I meet. So, I do what I know to do to get "topped up" with God's love and goodness. I spend time in His Word. I pray. I attend church and worship. All good things, right?

But, then, when I go out into the world, why doesn't love and goodness pour out of me? Why is it that bitterness, frustration, and negativity are all I have to share? What's up with that? These questions have plagued me for a very long time, and last weekend, I had a revelation.

As I have told you before, Wales experiences an average of 270 wet days a year. That's a lot of rain! But oddly enough, they don't have regular flooding. Occasional floods, yes, but not constant. This amazes me because I can't fathom how the ground continues to soak in the water. It seems that it would be so thoroughly saturated that flooding would be a constant issue, but it isn't.

Last week, however, three record-breaking storms hit the UK back to back. The torrential rains and hurricane-like winds lasted for days and wreaked havoc across the countryside. It was unlike anything I've ever experienced. Not only did the storms cause a lot of damage to homes, trees, buildings, and bridges, but they brought about massive flooding conditions, which led to road closures. Y'all, it was crazy! Some pastures looked like lakes. It was a mess!

As I surveyed the standing water across much of Wales and England, I realized that the area could indeed flood. It just took a lot more water than one would expect. And that was when I had my "Aha" moment. Maybe the reason I'm not overflowing with Jesus is that I'm not yet full to overflowing. Sure, I spend time with Him, but is it enough time? Yes, I pray, but do I pray long enough or often enough? Sure, I attend church and worship, but am I truly present in the service when I'm there, or am I thinking about other things?

The older I get, and the more I spend time with the Lord, the more I realize I need to spend even more time with Him. There's so much to learn, so much my heart longs to know. And as the world grows darker, the need to recharge my spiritual batteries increases.

The problem these days is that we're all so busy. There's family, work, church, and so many other obligations. When we're not working on some task or another, we're winding down by watching television, engaging in social media, or reading a good book. And there's nothing wrong with that. However, I wonder if sometimes we could accomplish much more in a day and be a better testimony to those around us if we made more of a priority of our time with the Lord. I'm not saying we need to spend all day or even four hours of the day sitting with our Bibles open and our face toward Heaven in prayer. For many of us, that's not realistic.

That being said, I think most of us could spend more time than we do. Not only that, but we could learn how to walk with and communicate with God throughout the day. Everywhere we go. In everything we do. Chatting with Him. Praising Him. Pouring out our problems to Him. Listening to His calming voice. Sometimes, I think we need to be more in tune with Him. Perhaps then, we'd find ourselves filling up to the point of overflowing. What do you think?

“And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”

— I Thessalonians 3:12-13