Exhausted… Someone I love is really exhausted tonight. Too many long hot hours, not enough sleep. I pray that he makes it safely back home at the end of the work shift, safely to his bed for a long and thorough time of rest.
I’ll likely be exhausted myself in a few hours. Sleep seems to elude me tonight. I slept soundly until 2:00. Tried twice to snuggle down and drift off again. Not happening…
I’ve considered how exhausted many people have been these last weeks, those who work all day in this unusually hot summer. Exhausted. They must be so very exhausted. The heat seems to suck all of the energy from a person.
There is satisfaction in being tired from a good day’s work. The reward we see in what we have accomplished (and the paycheck we cash!)
I have been really tired a lot of times. But I’ve never known exhaustion like the spiritual exhaustion I struggled with for years. I worked and worked, yet seemed to get no where. I wanted to quit, but felt obligated to keep on and on…trying, harder and harder.
I did quit eventually. I just said, Lord, I can’t do it. I am sorry. But I just can’t ‘do’ all ‘do’s and I end up ‘doing’ the ‘don’t’s. So….I give up.
It was the turning point in my life.
And I’m in good company with the dilemma I was in.
“What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise.
So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.
But I need something more!
For if I know the law but still can't keep it…
and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes.
I can will it, but I can't do it.
I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway.
My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions.
Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up.
I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.”
(The apostle Paul’s words, Romans 7:16-25 from The Message)
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (The words of Jesus, Matt. 11:28-30 from The Message)
Hallelujah. I found that peace ‘which passeth all understanding’ (Phil. 4:7)
Thank You Lord…..
