DO NOT BECOME WEARY…….

Paul tells us in Galatians, that we are not to become weary of well doing. Yet as Believers it seems this is a very hard instruction for us to grasp or follow. First I would like to share with you how that scripture reads in the Complete Jewish Bible. 9So let us not grow weary of doing what is good; for if we don’t give up, we will in due time reap the harvest. 10Therefore, as the opportunity arises, let us do what is good to everyone, and especially to the family of those who are trustingly faithful. Galatians 6:9 & 10

In the course of a year I can’t tell you how many women I talk to on a daily bases, but it is quite a few. With teaching two Bible studies each week and the numerous counseling sessions, I do encounter a wide range of different personalities each week. And this is where I am gathering my opinion that there are way too many women in the Body of Christ who are tired (weary) and miserable (want to give up) in doing good. It saddens me, because this should not be! As servants of the Messiah Yeshua (Lord Jesus Christ), the last thing that should be going on in our lives is that we are miserable, because we serve Him. This has caused me to pray much and ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten me as to the problem? Why is this so prevalent among so many women? And the more I talk with women and the more questions I ask, the more I begin to see where some of the problems stem from. Today I hope I can help those of you who are feeling tired of doing good to see things in a different light and become reenergized to carry on and faint not or GIVE UP!

The spirit of weariness is vast and covers a lot of territory, but for this blog I just want to focus on our being weary with God and with people. This seems to be the top two problem areas.

I’m finding that most of us have an expectation that we can figure out (at least on some level) what God will do in our lives; which leads us to having a hard time living and walking in God’s time frame for things and we become impatient or just tired of the labor of it all. Mostly because we find that He is not meeting out expectations or we’ve read a book on the 10 steps of “How to get God to move in your life” and He hasn’t moved the way the book says He will, or He is just taking too long to change our situation, then we start to faint (give up) in our hearts.

I want to deviate a little bit for one moment. If you are one who reads the Christian versions of “How To” books, I employ you to stop for awhile. Probably some of you are gasping right about now, especially if you are the author of one. I mean no offense to anyone, but all these how to books floating around are causing many people to have problems with God. Prime example: PRAYER. Prayer is our way of communicating with our Father. You have to pray to be saved. You have to ask God to forgive you of your sins and accept Yeshua (Jesus) as your Lord and Savior. Okay, so now that we have established that prayer is essential in the life of a Believer, and it is our way of communicating, then why has man made it so complicated by writing so many books on how we are to pray? Just out of curiosity I went to Amazon.com and did a search on “Books on Prayer” it gave me 60,146 results…Wow! Then I searched, “Books on how to pray” and it gave me 608 results. Now I’m sure there are many more out there, but my question is Why would we need so many books on how to pray?

There is no “one fits all” in our walk with the Lord and especially in our prayers. Because most of these books lay claim that their way is the way to reach heaven and open doors. If you are a mother and you have more than one child, then you know all to well that no two children are the same and that you find yourself dealing with each child in different ways. You might have one that is very agreeable, another who is stubborn and one that is a daydreamer. To get the same message across, might take some very creative thinking and much prayer on your part. Especially for that stubborn heart! ~Smile~ Well, we are the same as God’s children. So how can a book on “how to” fit everyone’s personality and makeup? It doesn’t and there lies the problem. We become tired (weary of well doing) of trying to make things work as the books say they will. Because the truth that they leave out is….no matter how hard we try, we cannot and I repeat “Cannot” manipulate God into doing anything.

If you are new to the Kingdom of God or someone who struggles with prayer, I want to admonish you to take away all your time frames, restraints, steps on how to and just start spending time talking to the Lord. Yes, it really is that simple. And what you will find is a desire to sit and talk, but you will also begin to realize that you are communicating with Him all through the day. Getting up first thing and praying and being done for the day does not fulfill the instruction that we are to “pray without ceasing or pray continually” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV & NIV). We should talk to God throughout our day about everything. Am I saying, “Oh you don’t have to pray in the morning?” No! What I’m saying is, “Don’t be rigid about it.” Example, a young mother of 3 has read a book on prayer and it has instructed her to get up first thing in the morning at least an hour before everyone else and use that hour praying for her husband and family. Well, after a couple of weeks she just could not keep it up. Why? The life of a mother of young kids stepped in. One child was sick with a stomach virus and then the second, the third and before you knew it Dad was home sick too. By time she did get to drag herself to bed, it was not long before she was being summoned by one of them. But in all of this she began to feel guilty because each time she got up, the only prayer she could muster was, “Lord Help me!” or “Lord give me strength!” and “Lord, pleeeease don’t let me get sick!” But think about it…that was good enough for Peter when he was walking on water and started to sink and shouted…”Lord save me!” And it worked, because He did. “How to books” have a great potential to put people in a bondage that is manmade and not of God.

This young mother did not realize that she was praying more throughout the day then she ever had. Each time she administered any meds she prayed over them asking God to use them to reduce the fever. Every time she fixed toast or poured a glass of ginger ale she prayed it would stay down. And as she was on her knees (cleaning the vomit out of the carpet that missed the pail), she continually prayed for strength to get through this all. Her prayers where about the issues of her heart (concern and love for her family); and it became her strength as she talked with God and believed that He not only heard her, but gave her what she needed. Because in a few days, things started getting back to normal in her household. But by then she was guilt ridden beyond belief because she was still too tired from the previous week, to get up an hour early as her book said, “She must do.” So she just gave up, and found herself back to not really talking to the Lord, and feeling very guilty about it.

Oops, I’m running out of my space limit. Well, what else is new…LOL!! By now we all know that the Holy Spirit just doesn’t seem to let me cover it all in one blog, so we will have more to come. ~Smile~

Ladies, read your Bibles, find a good Women’s Bible Study, and read your Bibles. Ask God for wisdom (James 1:5) about anything you are confused about or need help on. My deepest desire for all women is that we are not living self imposed prison sentences or miserable in our walk with God. And most of all that we do not give into the temptation to GIVE UP!!

If you are one of the many who are living with the shadow of weariness hanging over you, I want you to start telling God how you really are feeling. For one He already knows, because He judges the heart, and two, once you bring it out in the open between you and Him, then you open up the door for His help and comfort in the matter. If you’re sick and tired of so and so, or this and that, then say it, because then you can begin to work on Why?

See you in two weeks!



Be Blessed,
Pat

Hope to see you, Saturday, May 29th. I will have more for you on "Not being weary in doing good."


Monday's Blog: Sharon is up "Women and their Finances"