fuel shortage

Yesterday morning after I took my son to school, I began my search for gasoline. I already knew that the five stations within a mile of my house were out fuel, so I headed south a few miles. At station after station, I saw the same thing - gas pump nozzles covered with plastic bags or wrapped with yellow tape. At most of these stations, the numbers had been removed from the signs as yet another indicator that they were out of fuel. 

After a half an hour, I spotted a station in the distance that still had prices posted. People were utilizing every pump at this small station, so I wheeled into the parking lot and got in line. Unfortunately, it became quickly evident that customers were having trouble actually pumping the gas, and within a few minutes an employee came out and shooed us all away with a shout of "We're all out!" 

I hit the road again and eventually spotted a tanker truck at a Shell station. Cars were already lining up at the pumps, which were still shrouded in plastic. After waiting 15 minutes, an employee came out and unwrapped each of the "Regular Unleaded" nozzles, and grateful customers eagerly leapt from their cars. After passing 20 gas stations in 70 minutes, I was finally able to fill my tank.

According to today's local paper, at least 85% of the gas stations in the Nashville area were out of fuel on Friday morning. Things looked a little brighter by this afternoon, with "only" an estimated 50-60% of stations still lacking fuel. Our governor has warned us that the shortage will continue for several days, so Middle Tennesseans have been urged to conserve fuel (apparently West and East Tennessee are not experiencing the same shortages).

This experience prompted me to recall the words of Dr. Anna Carter Florence from her sermon “Filling Stations," which is based on Jesus' parable of the ten bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13). All ten of the bridesmaids grew weary and fell asleep waiting for the bridegroom’s arrival. All ten of the bridesmaids awoke to discover that their lamps were running low on fuel. However, the five wise bridesmaids had prepared in advance and carried enough oil with them to deal with the unforeseen circumstance, while the five foolish ones were unprepared and lacked the resources they needed to face the moment of crisis. The foolish bridesmaids then implored the wise ones to loan them some fuel, to no avail. By the time the foolish bridesmaids had gone out to purchase more fuel and returned to the house that was the site of the wedding feast, the door was shut and they were not allowed in. "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour," Jesus concluded.

Dr. Florence observed that the five wise bridesmaids weren’t really acting selfishly - their actions simply reflected the reality that we ultimately have to rely on our own spiritual resources. Other people cannot loan us their intimate relationship with God to use in a crisis situation. We can't borrow the peace that someone else experiences through Christ in a pinch. Simply put, there are things we need to do to maintain our own spiritual well-being, and nobody else can do them for us. Dr. Florence sagely observed, “You have to figure out what fills you up spiritually, and then make sure you have some to carry with you every single minute of the day, because that is how often you’ll need it.”