What’s in Your Balloon is a guest post by my wife, Tammy Shiver. Tammy went to be with Jesus two years ago. But her wisdom and heart for God live on in my life. Hopefully, they will become an encouraging part of yours, too.
Tammy had started to write a few years before she died. This post was actually written a couple of weeks after she was diagnosed with stage four metastatic breast cancer. Even in the face of a desperate diagnosis, she never wavered in her love and faith in God. That was Tammy, in love with Jesus and trusting His goodness all the way to the end of her time on earth.
It is my honor to feature some of her posts here at Fueled By Grace. Please let her words encourage you and draw you closer to our Lord Jesus. That was, and I am sure still is her heart’s desire.
What’s in Your Balloon?
As I was praying for a friend this morning, God gave me a picture and illustration that I felt like He wanted me to share with my friend. The more I prayed about it, I felt like He wanted me to share it on this blog also. So here it is…
In my mind, I got this picture of a red party balloon. It was full of air, but laying on the ground. The air that was in it was too heavy to enable it to float on its own. This was because the balloon had been inflated by a person breathing into it (human breath). In order for the balloon to float effortlessly, it needed to be filled with the weightless air of helium. Then, the balloon will soar limitlessly as long as it stays filled with helium.
What God was showing me was that the heavy air of human breath that filled the balloon represents our tendency to rely on our human strength and resources. This “heavy air” leaves us grounded (like the balloon), weighed down with life’s struggles, worries, and cares. God wants us to let this heavy air of relying on our strength/resources out of our lives so He can fill us afresh with the lighter helium air of the strength and resources of His Holy Spirit. We are reminded in Ephesians 5:18 to “…Be filled with the Spirit….” As we seek to stay filled with the Spirit, we will not rely on ourselves, but we will know what it means to live in the rest of God, soaring (like a helium balloon) in His mighty strength and power working in our lives.
God is standing by with the helium tank of His Holy Spirit’s breath ready to fill us up. Won’t you join me in putting aside the things we have been relying on that are keeping us grounded and letting God fill us and give us what we need to soar in His strength?
Prayer
Father, we get caught up in the worries and cares of this life and fail to look to You for the strength, guidance, and resources we need. We rely on ourselves and our resources instead, and in doing so, often create a bigger mess of our lives and then blame You for it. I thank you that right now, we can come confidently to Your throne where we can receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Heb. 4:16). Thank you for providing a better way for us to do things in the power and strength of your Spirit. Fill us now and give us desperation to be continually filled with Your Spirit so that we will rely on Your strength and enter into Your rest. Thank you for forgiving us, filling us, and teaching us how to rely on and live in your strength.
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