Do you ever feel like you just have nothing left? Nothing to give, nothing to say, maybe even nothing to even live for?

I feel like this a lot. It's like life keeps throwing curve balls, and you are ready to give up completely because there is literally nothing left. Between work, trying to make time for friends and family, eating, and sleeping, I sometimes get overwhelmed and just plain exhausted. Maybe it's just me, but I think God makes us feel like we have nothing left to make us realize that we always have Him left.

"To truly give is to give all you have, even when you have nothing left to give." -Enson Inoue

When I was younger, I used to hate shopping. Every year my mom, aunt, grandmother, and all of the kids would go "back to school" shopping. Most girls my age loved going shopping, but I was so discouraged because I had to try on all of my clothes to make sure that they fit. When I was 12, I wanted to be like every other girl my age and grab a size small shirt off the rack and go on with my life. But that wasn't possible for me. So year after year, we would make the dreaded trip. And my family loves to shop. So what did we do? We went to every single store you could possibly think of, and sometimes the same store at two different locations (just incase one store carried something that the other store didn't have in stock). I remember thinking after about the fourth store of the day thinking, "I cannot go into another store. I have nothing left." I had no energy, and definitely no drive to even be there. Now I look back and realize how selfish I was being. I was seriously complaining about having to try on clothes when there are kids all around the world who have never owned a brand new piece of clothing in their life. How in the world did I think I had nothing left to give when God was showing me how many blessings I had all around me?

I am a people pleaser. I get so busy trying to make sure everyone else around me is satisfied with their life, I don't really focus on mine. Recently, I worked an event that allowed me to have some much needed talk time with God. He had to remind me that I need to worry about my happiness before I can work on other people's. I never really slow down. None of my friends ever slow down, we just want to make sure that we are living a fun life. I had to remind myself that living a good life is better than living a fun life. If I live a good life for the Lord, then it will be fun along the way.

I guess what I am trying to say is that when you have nothing left to give, give yourself rest. Only God is capable of not resting, and He still did it anyway (probably to demonstrate to us how important it is). Rest is a four letter word that is worth saying, doing, and pursuing often in order to live a reparable life. I always try to get everything done, and I think it's because I am afraid to fail. I need to remember to slow down and marvel in His greatness. I don't need to keep running on empty, but ask God to refresh me so that I can better serve Him.

When you have nothing left but God, you become aware that He is enough.