Discouraged and Weary?

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Matthew 11:28

Dear friends,

Forgive my long absence from blogging here, I have been weary and heavy laden.

God in His faithfulness has been ministering to me and bringing me back

to His side, encouraging me as well as gently rebuking me to get up again.

The main thing that God is calling me back to is prayer... over a period of time

I poured out all I had, I crossed the finish line, and collapsed.

At that point, I am ashamed to say,

my ministry of prayer did not continue.

Therein lay my real problem, I did not continue to come to Him, to lay those burdens down.

I did not come to the Water of Life and drink deeply.

Situations arose that burdened my heart,

some that wounded my heart, some that left me stunned.

Do you know, beloved friends, God knew all of that... ahead of time.

And do you know that in His faithfulness He afflicted me?

Why? So that I will begin to count all things as loss and gain Christ,

so that as I share in suffering I will begin to be conformed to His death.

(Philippians 3:7-11)

Ultimately, these burdens, wounds, and disappointments should drive me to my knees,

in humble and persevering prayer for His power, His healing , His grace.

He is able, I am not... He is God, I am not.

He simply says, "Come to me... I will give you rest."

O Lord, I do come, I need Your rest, Your mercy, Your refreshment.

I need You. Lift up my eyes to You, my help, my hope, my Redeemer.

Thank You for calling me, I am grateful for Your faithfulness.

Amen.

Satisfaction

Isaiah 58:11

"The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail."

Life can sometimes broadside you leaving you wounded and bleeding by the wayside. Our souls can become weary, weak, and dry. Have you ever been there? Have you ever felt like you haven't got anything left in you? Like you're in a desert?

Oh my dear sisters, those places are just where we really begin to experience our faithful Savior's touch. He is faithful to continually guide us, heal us, to strengthen and water our weary souls. The key is to turn to Him instead of dwelling in that broken place with all of it's hurts and injustices.

When we seek Him with our whole heart and seek to be fully satisfied in Him, He will satisfy our souls. He is the Living water, He waters us so abundantly that our wells will never run dry.

Honestly I struggle to be completely satisfied in Him.... He is allowing me to go through a very tough season. He is calling me to be satisfied in Him, what He has called me to do, and be content with the outcome. What if others don't approve or like what I do?

Colossians 3:23 reminds me to do whatever I do heartily as to the Lord because He is the One I serve, the One Who rewards. God calls us to seek to please Him and not men.

Be encouraged, He will continually guide you, sustain you, strengthen you, and water your weary soul BUT we must be looking to Him as our all... be fully satisfied in Him.

Glorious Things

"See the streams of living waters, springing from eternal love,
Well supply thy sons and daughters, and all fear of want remove:
Who can faint, while such a river ever will their thirst assuage?
Grace which, like the Lord, the Giver, never fails from age to age."


Recently in church we sang "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken", which was new to me. As I focused on the hymn, I was struck by the second verse. There were four elements that caught my attention and reached my heart.

1) Streams of living waters which spring from eternal love.

Imagine that! Streams (not trickles) of living (not dead) water - active, vibrant, and life giving water. It's source? Eternal love - that is an endless supply - it springs from the love of God which does what is best for the receiver.

2) Well supply thy sons and daughters, and all fear of want removed.

The living water supply is abundant - it well supplies all of God's sons and daughters. It is so abundant that it banishes fear of not having enough. It leaves no room for want or worry.

3) Who can faint, while such a river ever will their thirst assuage?

How can it be that we grow faint and weary when we have access to an eternal river that fully satisfies all our thirst - emotionally and spiritually? That river EVER abundantly meets our thirst to the full, it never falls short of being completely able to quench our thirst.

4) Grace which, like the Lord, the Giver, never fails from age to age.

Grace never fails because it's Author, our Lord, never fails. One of God's qualities noted here is the Giver. We don't get it, He gives it. Grace is from Him to us - unmerited favor - and it will NEVER fail. God's grace is limitless, powerful, and overarches all our sins. Thank you Jesus.

God in His ever persistent, yet gentle way, used this hymn to refocus my thirsty soul back to it's source. I pray it "rehydrates" your thirsty soul too. To God be the glory!