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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

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