The Answer to Weariness...

I ended up getting up a little earlier than usual this morning as my wife was moving around quite a bit and I couldn’t seem to stay asleep.  So I decided why fight it and got up!  I also figured that some extra time in the Word was probably just what the doctor ordered!  This extra time ended up being a very profitable experience for me.  The Lord showed me many things including the confirmation of something I felt and questioned, as a new Christian, with some of the leadership at the Baptist church we first attended some forty years ago.  Maybe I’ll share more about that in another blog, but today I wanted us to think about Paul’s comments concerning the grace of God as being all sufficient for him.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how weak and insufficient I feel at times concerning my current stake in life.  Over the last year I have gone from being on the frontlines of ministry within the local church setting to being at home caring for the needs of my precious wife on just about a 24 hour basis.  Needless to say, it has been quite a change for me!

It has also been quite a challenge for me.  For most of my married/family life I have worked at least two and sometimes three jobs at the same time, including the (supposedly) part-time position at the various churches we have served at.  And during all that time I have not experienced the stress, weariness and sometimes all out exhaustion that I now live with in the one job that currently encapsulates my life.  Don’t get me wrong as I am not complaining as it is a labor of love caring for the most special person in my life.  It is just totally different than anything else I have ever experienced.

As I questioned my life this morning I was led to Paul’s discussion on God’s grace for him.  In reading from 2 Corinthians chapter 12 I began to realize that Paul was experiencing a similar situation in his ministry but had come across an all important fact!  Even though he was fighting weariness, exhaustion, stress and the continual threat of persecution, he rest assured in knowing that “When I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10 English Standard Version)

God had told him that, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness,” which caused Paul to rejoice and live in the strength of that promise as he declared: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV)

And speaking of what the doctor ordered… Those verses were like a shot in my arm this morning!  I suddenly experienced God’s peace “which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7 ESV) as I was able to let go of that tiredness that dogged me and allow His grace and thereby His strength empower me to continue on and complete the work that He daily sets before me with my wife and those I meet each day!  I no longer feel guilty about the way I feel.  I am simply dwelling on Christ’s powerful grace working within and without of me.

It is like a new freedom and a new strength that overrides the natural dictates of the responsibilities of daily life.  And it is GREAT!  How about you this day?  Is this new freedom something that you need to grab hold of?  Do you need to exchange that weight of weakness and weariness with the freedom of His grace and His power in your life?  Believe me when I say from personal experience, that it will be the best decision you’ve ever made!  So let this be the day and let Him have His way with you starting today.  Allow His grace to be sufficient for you.  Have a GREAT day!  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What GRACE am I expecting today?”