Skip to main content

Persevering through the "Weary"

This time of the year is hard on the soul - sometimes.  The short days are cold and uninviting.  While I love to sit in front of a fireplace and read, I also long for time to be outdoors and walk.  I actually took a walk in the country yesterday when the temp here was a -3 and a small, but challenging wind was blowing out of the west.  With my face to the wind it was cold - wearying.  After a mile I turned my back to the wind and it felt much better.  Still, this is not shorts and 75 degrees.

I thought about that some this morning.  I'm reading thru the Scriptures as I have done for years - and invited you to come along with me!  Abraham's story is full of up's and down's.  One moment he is hearing God say, "I will bless you and you will be a blessing"...and then he heads down to Egypt to escape the difficult weather and lies about who Sarah is. 

Then his Nephew, Lot, is captured and Abraham (actually its Abram at this point) takes his household and goes after the captives and wins the battle.  When he returns  home he refuses the spoils he could have taken because he will not accept that which does not come from God.  God smiles and meets him telling him "I will be your great reward"...it's a great life moment. 
God makes a covenant with him...tells him he is going to give the land to his descendants.  It all is going well, but soon after, impatient with waiting for an heir...weary if you will...he decides to take matters into his own hands and Ishmael is born.

Ishmaels....they are the outcome of weary impatience..."yes Lord I believe, help my unbelief..." might have been Abraham's words. 

I ask you this with a tenderness of compassion - Are you Weary?  It happens to the great ones like Abraham, Moses, David...it can happen to you too.

Here are some things to meditate on about our weary souls:

Jesus invites us to himself in our weariness:  Matthew 11:28 
28  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 

"Come", not do!  It is faith, trust, rest in Christ that gives us rest.  His rest is found in surrender and obedience...not a fatalistic "whatever will be will be", but a trust that in every situation, God is near us.

Matthew 11:29
29  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 

"Take" - yes, reach out for the yoke that says I will submit to you Lord and walk with you through this.

"Learn" - because in every weary place, there is something I can learn about God and thus myself.  Learn of him first...his gentle humble ways lead us to further rest.

Weary?...yes sometimes I am.  
Persevere?...  Yes, because 
9  And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.  (Galatians 6:9)

Peace

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Loving Well

As Jesus came to  his last hours on the earth, he spent them with his disciples - a show of his dedication to their special relationship with him.  If it were me and I knew this was my last night, I might want to take time to talk about what's important, and what they must remember....and perhaps it would be about doctrine, or beliefs, faith, etc.  Jesus goes a different direction: John 13:1-17 (NIV) 1 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. 2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Betrayed by Failed Expectations

No one names their children Judas.  No other name is more recognized as anathema than his name.    It's hard to sort out what to do with Judas.  He walked with Jesus, learned from him, saw the miracles, knew what Jesus was up to early on.  Yet when it came down to it he betrayed Jesus. What's perhaps more amazing is that it doesn't surprise Jesus at all. John 13:18-32 (NIV) 18 "I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture: 'He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.' 19 "I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He. 20 I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me." 21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me." 22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Joy to the World - Help is On the Way

It’s the first day of Advent– while you prepare for Worship this morning at church take a minute to ask God to direct you through this season that you might be prepared to “receive your King”. In the first week of Advent we celebrate the PROMISE of His Coming. His promise is based on our need. We were made in his image, but there is emptiness in our soul that is the result of the Fallen nature of sin. But why did Jesus come? What in his coming announces God's heart? His desire for us to know and experience? 10 BUT THE ANGEL SAID TO THEM, "DO NOT BE AFRAID; FOR BEHOLD, I BRING YOU GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY WHICH WILL BE FOR ALL THE PEOPLE; 11 FOR TODAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID THERE HAS BEEN BORN FOR YOU A SAVIOR, WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD. GREAT JOY! Did you know that God is Joyful? 1 CHRONICLES 16:23-27 (NASB) 23 SING TO THE LORD, ALL THE EARTH; PROCLAIM GOOD TIDINGS OF HIS SALVATION FROM DAY TO DAY. 24 TELL OF HIS GLORY AMONG THE NATIONS, HIS WONDERFUL DEEDS AMONG ALL THE PEOPLES....
46 comments
Read more