Hope in the One Who Does Not Grow Weary

By: Carrie Gerbatz, proverbs31

“But those who hope in 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 40:31 (NIV)

My coffee had been reheated for the third time that morning. A mountain of rumpled laundry mocked me from the couch as I begrudgingly scribbled down my growing to-do list. The kids were fighting (again) over some toy nobody wanted until everyone did, and I was still wearing my sweaty clothes from an early morning run.

Had I even brushed my teeth?

I honestly couldn’t answer “yes” or “no” with any certainty. The only things that were certain were my souring mood and a wish for the day to be over already.

Why was I feeling so frustrated … so tired and burned-out? Nothing in my life had changed. In fact, my daily stressors were familiar, even expected. The kids woke up at their normal, crack-of-dawn time; I had decent-ish sleep and managed to squeeze in a quick workout; reheated coffee was in my system; I even found a few spare minutes to read through a daily devotion with minimal distractions.

What was I missing?

Perhaps more “me” time … more self-care time to better manage myself? A new exercise routine to shake things up and really sweat out my woes? Or stretching? Yes! Maybe try to breathe through those woes instead … or could it be as simple as a pedicure with a friend? Or better yet, a girls’ night out? Or maybe I needed more culture. Join a book club? Pick up a new hobby? There had to be something …

As I contemplated how to magically add extra hours in the day to complete all the missing self-care tasks, I only became more frustrated. As I let out a long and dramatic sigh of exasperation, a forgotten truth settled heavily over my entire being in that small moment:

These things are all temporary.

Sudden clarity and conviction overwhelmed my senses. The feelings I might experience from pursuing any number of self-care remedies were temporary.

Did it make any of them bad? Of course not! Taking care of my physical self was a good thing; adrenaline rushes are real; freshly scrubbed toes should be appreciated; and nights with good friends are much-needed. But depending on those temporary remedies to wholly sustain my soul through the ups and downs of a chaotic morning, let alone my life? Was it any wonder I was feeling so tired and burned-out?

Suddenly a word from the book of Isaiah sprang to the forefront of my mind:

“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 hope in 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 40:28-31, NIV).

The Lord is eternal. He renews my weary soul with the strength and perseverance I so desperately need. There is no substitute.

My soul exhaled with relief. I didn’t need to find extra hours in the day to self-care myself to sanity. I needed to realign my heart and place my hope in the Lord. It was as simple as that.

Temporary self-care is no substitute for the eternal soul-care only the Lord can provide. And yet, somewhere — amidst the grind of the daily to-do’s, the frustrations, and the busyness of life — we lose our way.

Our hearts wander, and we find ourselves clinging to that which cannot sustain us. But we don’t have to settle for white-knuckled, clinging hopelessness. We can release our grip on the temporary and place our hope in the eternal hands of the One who does not grow tired or weary, the Creator of heaven and earth. He is our Lord. Let us not hesitate to return our hearts to Him today.

Life with a Purpose

Cathy Irvin, 1.cbn.com

In the body of Christ, we want to do things for the Lord. We mean well and get involved before we really seek the Lord about it. Maybe we do it out of guilt or feel pressured by well-meaning friends. But for whatever reason, if it is not from a heart of passion, it is EMPTY! Personally, I don’t want to waste my time bobbing up and down like a bobble-head doll and going no where. I will just be doing the work of the Lord with no real purpose.

Everything we do must be done with a willing heart devoted to the Lord. Otherwise, it is empty. That is like a bobble-head doll. They have a spring inside, the head is bigger than the body, and they are hollow inside. They bob up and down, but don’t really get anywhere. Do you ever feel like you go through the motions, yet your heart is not in it at all? That is what it is like to be a bobble-head.

The thing to do when you feel this way is to stop and ask yourself some questions. Is this what the Lord wants from my life? Am I bobbing up and down taking up space? Perhaps what you are doing isn’t your calling or gifting.

If you teach, then don’t try to be an administrator. If you are a leader, get out there and lead with confidence. If you are a behind the scenes person, then do it with excellence. Step into the right position in the body of Christ, and the Lord will add gifts to your life. You may be multi-talented, but where is your passion?

For example, I can teach and sing. But I am totally willing to let those who feel called to usher or work with the children’s programs do their jobs. We each have our own areas of ministry.

We want to please the Lord, not man. Let’s not burn out doing everything that we are not called to do. We need to keep our heads on straight, and look to the Lord for our callings. Let us do the very best in the place He shows us, and run with a heart after God.

There is a book currently gaining a lot of attention in the Christian community. The title is The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. There are some groups that are conducting Bible studies centered on this book. Individuals are reading and talking about it. One church is building its sermons and cell groups on the Purpose Driven Life theme. No one is a bobble-head on purpose, and we certainly want a purpose driven life.

Paul prayed that God would bless the Christians in Corinth, so they might abound in every good work.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8 NIV).

He expressed confidence that God would continue to enhance the good work begun in them.

…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6 NIV).

Search your heart and see what your passion is, and then go after it. Use your gifts and talents, watch the Lord bless you. Surely, you will be content and there will be no more bobbing around. You will be moving forward — being all God has called you to be. 

God’s Surprises

Patricia J. Frost, Author, 1.cbn.com

After a visit to the Gaza Strip, I left thanking God that He had not called me to Gaza, that dusty, trash-strewn, third world country. I was so happy to get back to Jordan and thanked God He had called me to serve as an English teacher there, not in Gaza.

Twenty years later I left Jordan and sought another place to serve. Every mission magazine or brochure I picked up stressed the needs for personnel in the Gaza Strip. As I looked at the list of requests, I decided that the need for English teachers was greatest in Gaza. What a difficult decision, but I knew that I was to go to Gaza.

What a great experience living in Gaza turned out to be. I have never felt so warmly welcomed nor made friends so easily as in the Gaza Strip. God revealed to me the important and beautiful thing about Gaza — the people and relationships. My first impression was so totally wrong. As Isaiah 55:8 (NIV) reminds us,

‘“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.”

Who am I to think that I know what is best for me and where I will be the happiest and most fulfilled? Isaiah reminds us that we do not always know what the Lord has in mind for our lives because we do not think as He does nor know the way that He has planned.

“Oh, I’ll get married after I retire from missionary service,” declared a colleague and close friend.

My thought was, who would want to marry an old man at that age, after living happily for so long as a single, enjoying independence and being free of family responsibilities? I certainly would never do that.

With retirement came a big surprise. On the first day in exercise class, I saw him. I had no idea who he was and felt no attraction, but a strange thought popped into my mind, this is the man you’re going to marry. What a ridiculous thought. Where did that come from? I had no intention or desire to marry. I pushed that unrealistic thought away and forgot it. Not until much later, after my future husband and I had spent time doing things together, I remembered that crazy thought.

At different times in my life, God has revealed to me how some of my long-held convictions and beliefs are not in keeping with His reality.

That fits the pattern of my life — the way God breaks through to let me know His will and plan. My faith is backed up by strong impressions because He does not want me to doubt His will. How great to have a long history of walking daily with a personal God, knowing His heart of love and faithfulness. He has shown me how He can change my desires and work to bring good into all circumstances.

“In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)

We may have in mind what we want to do and how to spend our days, but God may have something in mind that we have not considered. Will we have the courage to follow where He leads?

We can become confused and bewildered when God’s plans are not what we expected. Will we trust God’s wisdom and His timing?

Let us trust and praise God even when our plans don’t turn out the way we expect.

No Tape Measure Needed

“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Galatians 3:27 (NIV)

There is nothing quite like clothing to bring a grown woman to her knees. A simple closet-moving project had left me on the ground, clutching a cold metal tape measure to my chest.

I was in the middle of moving to a much smaller house with the tiniest closet I had ever seen. Measuring exactly how many inches — not feet, not yards, but how many inches — of clothing would help determine what I could bring.

It was impossible. No way could I part with so much and live with so little! I had survived a long season of unexpected changes that had rocked my world, and I wasn’t giving up anything else.

Staring at the tape measure in my trembling hands, it was clear something more than a closet needed tending. What needed tending was the closet of my heart. On that day, I had pulled from it a favorite piece of clothing — my robe of certainty. I wrapped myself in it and refused to take it off.

I craved certainty. Its pursuit captivated me. I looked for it in my health, finances, marriage, occupation and future. All had proven to be unsteady ground. I clung to anything that would give me a sense of stability and calm my fearful heart.

Jesus met me in the darkness of this obsession. He assured me this uncertainty I was wrestling against was an unexpected gift from Him. A gift meant to drive me deeper into His love.

My affections were set on things that were never meant to carry the weight of my ever-changing story. Certainty would never free me from the fear of the unknown. Only knowing He was with me in it ever would.

Being a follower of Jesus means being clothed in Him. Paul says in Galatians 3:27, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

This being “clothed in Christ” is more than covering over misery and uncertainty. Being clothed in Christ is an expulsive power. I needed what Scottish minister Thomas Chalmers called the “expulsive power of a new affection.” The worthless idol of certainty to which I was clinging could only be removed by the love of Jesus.

The word for “to clothe” in the Greek is enduo. It means “to sink into, as a garment.” Jesus was calling me to let go of worthless things and sink deep into His garment of love and find rest. And that is exactly what I did.

I don’t know what’s in your closet, but I do know being clothed in Christ means being wrapped in an unmeasurable garment of His love — no tape measure needed. He is always there to sink deep into His garment of love and rest — even in dark and uncertain places.

May your heart be sparked with overflowing joy as you live wrapped in the only piece of clothing you will ever need — the love of Christ.

Be Devoted to Prayer

John piper, Author, desiringgod.org.

My simple and humanly impossible goal this morning in this message is that you would all be devoted to prayer. This is my goal because this is what the Bible calls us to be. My text is Romans 12:12 which is part of a longer chain of exhortations. It says we are to be “rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted (proskarterountes) to prayer.”

Your version might say, “constant in prayer” or “faithful in prayer.” Those all get at aspects of the word. “Devoted” is a good translation. The word is used in Mark 3:9 where it says, “[Jesus] told his disciples to have a boat ready (proskartere) for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him.” A boat was to set apart — devoted — for the purpose of taking Jesus away in case the crowd became threatening. “Devoted” — dedicated for a task, appointed for it.

Now, boats just sit there. But people are not dedicated that way. When the word is applied to a person it means devoted or dedicated in the sense not only of designation and appointment but of action in the appointed task, and pressing on in it. So for example in Romans 13:6 Paul talks about the role of government like this: “You also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.” That is, they are not only designated by God for a task, but are giving themselves to it.

What’s remarkable about this word is that five of the ten New Testament uses apply to prayer. Listen, besides Romans 12:12 there are:

• Acts 1:14 (after the ascension of Jesus while the disciples were waiting in Jerusalem for the outpouring of the Spirit): “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”
• Acts 2:42 (Of the early converts in Jerusalem): “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
• Acts 6:4 (The apostles say): “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
• Colossians 4:2 (Paul says to all of us): “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.”

So we may say from the New Testament Scriptures that the normal Christian life is a life devoted to prayer. And so you should ask as you turn from 2002 to 2003, “Am I devoted to prayer?”

It does not mean that prayer is all you do — any more than being devoted to a wife means all the husband does is hang out with his wife. But his devotion to her affects everything in his life and causes him to give himself to her in many different ways. So being devoted to prayer doesn’t mean that all you do is pray (though Paul does say in another place, “pray without ceasing,” 1 Thessalonians 5:17).

It means that there will be a pattern of praying that looks like devotion to prayer. It won’t be the same for everyone. But it will be something significant. Being devoted to prayer looks different from not being devoted to prayer. And God knows the difference. He will call us to account: Have we been devoted to prayer? Is there a pattern of praying in your life that can fairly be called “being devoted to prayer”?

“Praying only as crises enter your life would not be a pattern of devotion to prayer.”

I think most of us would agree on some kinds of praying that would not be called “being devoted to prayer.” Praying only as crises enter your life would not be a pattern of devotion to prayer. Praying only at meal times is a pattern, but does it correspond to Paul exhorting the church to “be devoted to prayer”? A short “Now I lay me down to sleep” prayer at the end of the day is probably not “being devoted to prayer.” Hit and miss “Help me, Lord” in the car as you need a parking place is not “being devoted to prayer.” All those are good. But I think we would agree that Paul expects something more and different from followers of Christ when he says, “Be devoted to prayer.”

Let us not forget in all of this, as we saw last week, that the cross of Christ — his death in the place of sinners — is the foundation of all prayer. There would be no acceptable answer to why or how we pray if Christ had not died in our place. That’s why we pray “in Jesus name.”

As I have weighed the obstacles to prayer that I could address, some of them fall under the question, why pray? And some of them fall under the question how pray. I want to focus this morning on the how. Not that the question why is unimportant, but it seems to me that we can have all our theological answers in place as to why pray and still be very negligent and careless in the life of prayer. So I will give a short answer to the question why, and then focus on practical how questions that I pray will stir you up to venture new levels of “being devoted to prayer” in the new year.