We (Sarah) decided that we needed to pressure wash the deck last Saturay.  However, we don't have a pressure washer so we borrowed my father-in-law's pressure washer to do it.  He told Sarah what to do to start it which consisted of; screw on the water hose and turn the water on, put throttle on rabbit, prime bulb 3-10 times, squeeze handle on the water wand, and pull the start cord.  Before I did any of this I checked to make sure it had gas.  When I opened the gas cap and looked into the tank I saw gas.  Not a lot but enough.  Then we got all the other steps done and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and I pulled, and nothing happened.  It didn't even try to start.  Now I'm sweating profusely.  I have pulled so much that I have rubbed, filled, and ripped off a blister on my pulling hand.  At this point I have lost all happy thoughts and was ready to put the thing in the back of my truck and drive it off to throw it in the river. (not that I would actually throw trash in the river but you know what I mean)

By now Sarah is trying to talk me down off the ledge and I am digging for tools to tear into the fuel system because I have decided that the bulb is not priming like it should.  In desperation I had Sarah call her dad back to see if he had any helpful tips.  And being the mechanical genius he is we finally got it to try to start.  He asked if we had put any gas in it and Sarah said "no."  I told him that there is still some gas in it.   To my dismay I learned that (unlike every other gas powered anything I have ever used) this pressure washer won't run all the gas out before it is out of gas.  It has a tiny amount left but it isn't useable.  In other words, even though there was a tiny amount of gas left it was out of gas.

What does all this mean?  I guess a lot of times we (I) try to get things done without enough gas.  I tend to try to do things in my own power when all I need is some spirtiual fuel.  I guess most of the time rather than saying, "I think I have enough gas to get through this."  I should just go ahead and start by filling up.  You and I don't have to run our lives on empty.  Jesus came so we could have life and have it to the FULL!  Fill me up!