Our
teacher encouraged us not to grow weary in serving God. I have been there, done
that, and know the feeling of being weary - bone tired weary, exhausted weary,
discouragingly weary - feeling like I have nothing left to give and wanting to
hide from the world
Trauma,
trials, grief, illness, heart-break, feeling misunderstood and unappreciated
and taken for granted, etc. can all make us feel weary. The Good News is that
God is in us and with us (Galatians 2:20), and His rewards are GREAT. He is our
strength and song (Psalm 118:14).
We
cannot allow Satan to discourage us into getting weary in our service to King
Jesus within our family, church family, vocation, community and the world
(Galatians 6:9). God has a special plan for us; and if we remain in His will,
He always provides our needs (Ephesians 2:10).
Jesus
is our Vine, and we are His branches. What work does a branch do? Nothing… We
simply stay connected to the Vine and allow nutrients from the Vine to produce
fruit through us. We support the fruit, but we are not the source of the fruit.
If
we try in our strength to win the lost, or to grow our church family, or to
attempt any other feat for the Lord, weariness can overcome us. However, if we
remain in the Vine, and His Word abides in us, we will effortlessly bear much
fruit (John 15:1-8).
We
feast on His Word, and we quench our thirst from His living water (John
4:10-14). We walk in God's wisdom and power, and we find our strength in the
shadow of His wings (Psalm 91:1-4). If we are to remain in His shadow, we
cannot get far from our Lord.
Prayer:
Father
God, we want to stop our ceaseless attempts to prove our love to You by our own
works; or to accomplish our own goals, dreams and plans in our own strength,
which is entirely useless (Ephesians 2:8-9). Your Spirit produces Your fruit in
our life, which replaces our old, carnal nature (Galatians 5:15-25). Walking
each moment in Your Spirit, in order to do Your will, is the happiest place on
earth.
We
want to live as a new creation in You (2 Corinthians 5:17), and we know that
this is impossible apart from You (John 15:5; Philippians 4:13). When we bear
Your fruit, and we draw our peace and joy from Your presence in us, and from Your
Word and from Your strength, we will never grow weary. Prune the dead weight
from our life, so that we can bear even more fruit for Your Kingdom.
Thought
for the Day:
God
searches us, and knows our heart; He sees the wickedness within our soul and prunes
that away, so that we will bear only good fruit through our everlasting life in
Him.
-
Psalm 139:23-24
