Staying Filled Up After Thanksgiving

If you are visiting my blog from my Proverbs 31 devotion called Tired of Waiting that was published today, then welcome, and happy post-turkey day to everyone!

In todays P31 devotion, I shared the story of Isaac’s long wait for a child from the book of Genesis and how God rewards us for being patient in our faith and trusting that He is always listening. There have been many times in my life when I have felt so tired of waiting on a prayer to be answered, that I not only began to feel a sense of hopelessness, but emptiness.  Times when I needed to be filled up with a big helping of God.

Thanksgiving is a day full of “fillers”. We get filled with family, filled with thanks, filled with blessing, and most of all, filled with food.

Throughout this day where we overindulge in good food and homemade goodies and we feel physically full. We feel satisfied for the moment, yet we know that in just a few hours that familiar feeling of emptiness will return, and the stomach will growl once again, giving us the signal that it’s time to refuel our bodies.

That’s the thing about filling up with food, or anything else that brings physical satisfaction – it only temporarily meets our need to feel full. Wouldn’t it be great if our spirits could ‘growl’ like our stomachs when the feeling of spiritual emptiness or hopelessness sneaks in, letting us know that we need to indulge in a little spiritual food, or maybe an extra big  helping of God?

Ephesians 5:18-20 says this, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This is a popular verse, often interpreted differently among differing denominations. Some churches see this verse as proof that Christians should refrain from drinking alcohol at all, while others view it as a verse that encourages self control when consuming alcoholic beverages so as not to negatively affect a person’s witness for Christ.

However, regardless of personal opinions about drinking, the real truth tucked in between the lines here holds a much broader purpose than beverage consumption.

This verse encourages us to think about anything that we are filling ourselves up with that is not only temporarily satisfying, and results in leaving no room for the Holy Spirit to reside.

Apparently, some pagan worshipers in Paul’s time would intentionally get drunk as a form of their worship. They filled themselves with the effects of wine before and during worship, rather than seeking the effects of the Holy Spirit. They sought after the physical feelings that the wine caused, instead of the spiritual feelings that the Holy Spirit could fill them with.

Paul is mainly concerned here with the fact that their drunkenness not only led to reckless actions, but that they were purposely filling up with wine, instead of filling up with the Holy Spirit. They were choosing a temporary substitute of fulfillment, instead of seeking a permanent fullness of heart through God.

Most of us would agree that being overly filled with any alcoholic beverage is not pleasing to God, however we often overlook or justify the act of over-indulging in other sinful ways.

For example, have you ever considered how “filling up” with powerful emotions in our hearts and minds – such as as jealousy, lust, anger, hurt, bitterness, temptation, worry – can result in leaving little room in our heart for the Holy Spirit?

If we are filled up with negative emotions, the Holy Spirit is slowly pushed out. Leaving us empty. Full of something that is not of God.

Yesterday we may have been filled up with food, but what will fill us up this week and the next? Will we be focused on only on our physical needs and feelings, or our spiritual needs, feelings and fillings as well?  Will we stay plugged into God’s Word and allow Him to fill our hearts with His peace and joy, especially as we approach the busy holiday season?

Just as we choose to over indulge in food on Thanksgiving, staying spiritually filled up is a choice we all must make. A choice to spend time in prayer, reading God’s Word, attending church, serving His kingdom, and fellowshipping with other believers. These things take time, but are always time well spent and help us to be filled with the Spirit.

Thanksgiving day comes and goes, sometimes all too quickly it seems, but the desire to be full in heart and soul can continue all year round.  The good thing is no matter how much we overindulge in being filled with the Spirit, we can never get too much of Him.

What has been filling you up lately? How will you stay spiritually filled up now that all the Thanksgiving dishes are put away?

** Sign up for my 10 Day Stress Detox on the right hand sidebar to help begin filling up your heart spiritually for the holidays.**

10 Comments

  1. Connie on Friday, November 23, 2012 at 10:42 am

    Thank you for your encouragement about waiting; I have been struggling so much lately, with waiting on God’s timing in my time of singleness…sometimes, I feel like singleness is more torture than a gift, so it’s been hard to see the positives lately. So, again, thank you for your words that I need to focus on the Holy Spirit & not be filled up with worldly things.



  2. shawn on Friday, November 23, 2012 at 10:55 am

    Thank you- just what I need to hear at this time of year especially!



  3. Lisa on Friday, November 23, 2012 at 12:17 pm

    Thank you for the devo today at Proverbs 31. God used this to speak to me. I have been praying for two years for a job possibly in ministry, part time with insurance. A God move needed for sure. The desire is stronger and stronger lately and I was starting to feel frustrated and I simply don’t want to land there. I want to be patient and work where God wants me. So thank you. Would love prayers as the Spirit leads. Lisa



  4. Fyrn on Monday, November 26, 2012 at 11:25 am

    Thank you I needed this. That is all I can say- “Thank You”. 🙂



  5. Dee on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 at 10:26 am

    Thank you for this! I’ve been struggling with waiting for the last 16-17 mths, as we’ve been trying to sell our home. Through four realtors and too many price drops to mention, to the point where now we are selling it way below market value just to be done — and that’s WHEN someone finally decides to make an offer — I’ve been trying to stay faithful. We moved cross-country to try something new, give our kids something better, but it hasn’t panned out. We have a beautiful home, healthy kids and good friends here now but it’s not where we want to be; we want to be with our family and our older child who remained in our old location. I know it’s a lot of “want” but we are doing it for the right reasons, and it feels like we are being punished for coming here, yet we can’t leave. It’s a daily struggle to trust God and rely on the faith we’ve had for years when we see no light at the end of the tunnel after so long praying for the same thing. In the meantime, my husband’s job is overworking and underpaying him, not doing what they said they would. We know we are blessed in so many ways, but it’s hard to focus on those things when I am so sad, daily, at missing my daughter and family and knowing it’s just this one thing, selling our home, in our way. Timing matters for us, as another child plans on college out there next year, and another plans on other things I can’t give him here. It doesn’t seem like this should be an obstacle for this long, and I can’t understand why God is making us wait when so many good things await on us. I know He can move mountains, but he’s choosing not to. My heart is full of negative emotions that only get worse as the days go on, so I cling to blogs like yours to lift me up. Thank you.



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Tracie Miles is a bestselling author and the Director of COMPEL Training with Proverbs 31 Ministries.  She helps women grow stronger in their faith, pursue the life of purpose God designed them for and live a life of peace, joy and happiness despite their circumstances.

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