Fill Your Tank
How are we doing in being ready for the daily challenges of serving in law enforcement or as an emergency first responder? Are we coming to work each day running on empty, or nearly depleted of energy? Are we adequately prepared for the intense physical, mental, and even spiritual impacts that moments of our public safety profession can have on our bodies, minds, and souls? Maybe those in closest proximity to you – whether it be coworkers, family members, or friends – are the ones who should be answering these questions about you!
Filling your tank is different for each one of us. Likewise, what drains us can be equally dissimilar. Yet it is important to know this about yourself. What fills your tank? Or perhaps the more important question, what are you filling your tank with? We should all be filling-up daily with Bible reading.
In terms of spiritual healthcare, one of the best ways to start your day is by filling up with Scripture, through reading the Word of God. Whether a traditional Bible or an online app, spending even 15-minutes when you awake in the morning or before your daily work shift can help fuel your soul for the demands of the public safety profession, whether you work in police, fire, EMS, dispatch, or corrections.
The 24/7 nature of our frontline profession in the public safety industry does not afford many extra moments to focus on individual healthcare, whether it be of body, mind, or soul. It is easy for a first responder’s physical, mental, or spiritual tank to run empty during such seasons of busyness.
Yet just like the basic requirement for fuel to be in the tank in order to operate the engine in a police car (or fire truck or ambulance) and effectively respond to the scene of an emergency call for service or in-progress crime or critical incident, all law enforcement and first responders need to be individually “filled” to adequately serve the residents of their local communities. Soul-filling words from the Bible can satisfy your individual need for encouragement, wisdom, guidance, comfort, and peace.
Likely all can identify a member of their department or another law enforcement agency who allowed the needle on their personal gas gauge to fall below the “E” mark. Similar to a stalled vehicle on the side of the road that has run out of gas, that individual’s forward progress was abruptly halted and they had to focus on the immediate need to refill the tank before engaging in further activities. Workplace performance, family relationships, financial health, and many other aspects of life can be affected by running out of fuel, but regardless, the impact of an empty tank can inflict not only temporary inconvenience but permanent damage to one’s engine components, whether they be of a physical, mental, or spiritual operating nature. Daily Bible reading can help prevent against injury to your soul.
Pledge to yourself, those in your household and workplaces, and ultimately the community that you protect and serve, that you will fill your tank first before the start of your work day. You never know when you might be called upon to respond. Don’t start from empty! Fill-up with God’s Word from the Bible each day and carry that spiritual strength with you throughout your shift.