On Doing Good and Weariness……….

 

Do you ever reach a point of exhaustion?

 

Maybe not physically, but emotionally.

 

Maybe both.

 

You know the moment when “one more thing” becomes the biggest thing ever.

 

A text, a phone call, a Facebook message, a knock at your door……..

in and of itself it isn’t really a big thing,

 

but it’s “the thing” that pushes you right over the edge.

 

And suddenly you feel weary.

 

I had a wonderful weekend,

but the devil knew I was worn out as Saturday ended…….

and in his oh-so-clever way, he sent the “one more thing” my way.

And I found myself growing weary.

 

Weariness is so different than fatigue.

Weariness is a heart thing, an attitude thing, a throw-in-the-towel kind of thing.

Weariness makes us want to quit doing good.

It gives us permission to make excuses and feel sorry for ourselves.

Weariness creates victims.

 

 

As I’ve thought about who I want to be even in these frail and unavoidable moments of physical and emotional exhaustion,

I’ve heard this verse from Galatians 6:1 over and over in my head,

 

Let us not become weary in doing

good,

for at the proper time we will reap a

harvest if we do not give up.

Here’s my conclusion about weariness and doing good.

Saying “no” doesn’t mean we are weary.

Saying “yes” and being miserable does.

When I reach of place of “yes” responses with my mouth and “no” responses with my heart, I am becoming weary.

And honestly, my “yes” becomes empty, and I believe, unfruitful.

When I learn to say “no” and trust that someone else will be blessed by the chance to serve,

I give myself permission to rest, be restored, and become reenergized.

God calls us all to do good.

He reminds us that the harvest will come from our good works in the “proper time.”

But, He warns us not to grow weary in our good deeds.

We quickly become ineffective, bitter, and discouraged,

like a tired farmer trying to work a garden with no physical strength left to pull the next weed or plant the next crop.

Do you feel weary?

If so, take a break.

Read a book.

Rest.

Don’t try to do the next thing.

Wait for God.

 

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

 “To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.

Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or

weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

but those who wait for the

Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:21-31

Just think what God could do with a

land filled with energized Christians!

Rest before you grow weary.

Then get out there and “do

something good.”