Yesterday a friend replied to The Daily Ripple on the difficulty of being with the suffering, and it inspired further thoughts on the subject.

I wanted to share her opening line I found so profound and thought-provoking:

I would say that suffering is draining, so if you don’t have energy from the true Life Giver to be able to pour out Spirit love, then you’re just trying to operate on your Starbucks fumes.

Wow. That says so much, doesn’t it? “Starbucks fumes.” This is so metaphorically rich in just two words. You can see the deep meaning begging for extrapolation, can’t you?

Suffering does indeed drain the other person. This isn’t bad or wrong, it just is. Therefore, unless you’re regularly drinking from the Well of Living Water and eating the Bread of Life, you won’t be able to be much comfort to those who are going through the rough times of life around you.

But many of us are living our lives of no margin burning for energy our Starbucks fumes as opposed to the jet fuel of God’s grace-His Spirit and energy which directs our steps and replenishes us supernaturally.

You can’t do a 6,000 mile road trip on one tank of gas and no sleep, trust me, we did a 6K road trip this summer. Yet that’s what we try to do. You must stop. You must refuel. You must rest. The more we try to do, the less we have available for others. The less margin. No margin means no availability for the person on the side of life’s road who’s been beaten down and in desperate need of a helping hand, which often is a listening ear AKA a fully engaged spirit.

My friend also mentioned a man from her church so inspiring because he seemed to always be at the right place at the right time with an encouraging word, prayer, or meal. He doesn’t keep a meticulous Google calendar, she says, he just walks in the Spirit. He’s not even particularly smart or gifted. He simply prays, reads the Bible, and believes!