THE WEARY HEART

I've noticed something among God's people that's somewhat troubling: 

A PERPETUAL WEARINESS.

2Th 3:13 But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.

I've noticed something among God's people that's somewhat troubling: A PERPETUAL WEARINESS. There's a dark cloud that looms over their heads. They are tired. You can see the frustration on their faces. They are merely surviving from day to day. Mothers who feel like pulling their hair out; who weep through the night; trying to make the best of a not so good marriage. Single parents trying to raise children with the ever present feeling they are doing something wrong; who try to catch up, but seemingly are not able to. Fathers who are dying inside; trying to make the best of a not so good marriage; trying to raise children with the ever present feeling they are doing something wrong; trying to make a living in a terrible economy; screaming out for some respect in the house he provides. Young people who are trying to figure out why they can never "do anything right"; trying to cope with peer pressure in a public school setting. It saddens me.

It is not God's will for us to be so weary. Tired? Sure. We all get worn down by life, but I'm talking about something else. You will recognize it because depression is somewhere on its heels. A certain heaviness of heart and looming feeling that you're never going to get back up. If you are there, please listen to me. You are weary because you are doing this in your own strength. You are trying to be a father, mother, husband, wife, employee, church member, etc. in your own power. You must stop because you don't have the resources within yourself. Power belongs to God. Listen to what Jesus said:

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.I want you to notice that Jesus is "the life".

He also said, in St. John 10:10, that He had come to give us life more abundant.

The bottom line? You need to pray through. You need to find your place in Jesus. His name is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and are safe. He is your life. He is your strength; He is your love; He is your joy; He is your peace; He is your smile; He is the skip in your step; but something is restricting the flow of His life giving sap (the Holy Ghost) into your heart and life. He is the vine, you are the branches. Everything that is in Him can flow into you, but for whatever reason it is not. You aren't taking the time to pray through. Praying through? Now, that's a phrase not heard much anymore. What does it mean? It means to pray until you know that you know that you know! It means to pray until you touch Him. It means to pray until you are changed by God's grace and power.

Listen to this:

Lu 9:28 And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. 29 And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.

Prayer altered Christ's countenance; it will alter yours too! Prayer doesn't just change "things", it changes YOU! You need altered. You need to be changed. You need your perspective to be altered. You need to get sick and tired of being sick and tired. You need to get desperate. What would be better? Spend the next 10 years hoping that things will change, or find you a prayer closet, shutting the door behind you with the mind set that you are not coming out until God alters you, until He heals your weary heart; and then leaving that prayer closet a different man or woman? It might by difficult, but it would be well worth it.

Jacob had left his uncle Laban's house. He was on the run from his brother Esau, but more than that, he was coming face to face with who he really was. He caught wind that Esau was coming after him. Esau was going to kill him. Jacob sent his family across the brook Jabbok and then began seeking the face of God. The angel of the Lord came to him and wrestled with him all night. The angel asked Jacob to let him go, but Jacob would not; he wanted changed. He said, "I will not let you go until you bless me." In other words, "I will not let you go until you alter my life and who I have become." Jacob was a weary man. Running from God, and from who God wants you to be, is a frustrating predicament. God did it for Jacob. He touched his flesh and you need God to touch your flesh (the self-life, the Jacob within). God changed him from Jacob to Israel, the Prince; a man who had power with God and men! Prayer altered Jacob and it will alter you too. But it must be real prayer. The kind that latches hold on God and won't let go until . . . Dear readers, Esau would have killed Jacob, but he let Israel live.

The flesh cannot lift flesh. Flesh cannot heal flesh. You must draw nigh to God. You need His strength. You need His life. He alone can heal your weariness! You must be like the hart that panted after the water brook (Ps 42:1). The passage seems to imply more than a brisk run; a casual trek through the woods. This deer was being hunted; perhaps even struck through with a dart. Is that how you feel? Hunted? Struck through with a dart? Run for the water brook! Run for God and don't quit until you find Him! The cool waters of His healing love with lift you. It's what you've been needing all along. The answer belongs in God. Don't take it for granted that the storm you're in will move God, it doesn't. He'll sleep through your storms, but He will rise up when you cry out to Him, "Save me, I perish!" The storm has no chance against a praying saint!May God bless and help you! Be not weary in well doing because you will reap if you don't faint! 

 Be strong in the Lord, in the power of His might.

David Lamb