The picture above so perfectly fits and describes my story—uphill, downhill, round and round, exciting, and scary, bright spots and dark spots. My “joyful journey” has sometimes been an amazing thrill ride and sometimes just a big downward spiral! But, the emotional, mental, and physical struggles are all part of the story, and through it all, I see clear reflections of God’s amazing grace.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Are you tired? Worn out?

Sometimes life is just too much hassle, and too much weariness! The daily news is full of trouble all over this world, and absolute nonsense in high places! Sometimes I wonder if there is any common sense left in our judges and lawmakers. I just shake my head in disbelief at the decisions that are made by those who determine how our lives should be lived!

Where is wisdom? Where is common sense? Where is justice? Where is the understanding of right and wrong? Where is conscience? Where is morality? Where is decency? Where is truth? Where is human kindness?

We live in a very strange world now. It seems that everyone gets to choose whatever seems right in his/her own eyes, no matter what anyone else thinks, or how it may hurt someone else.

Even I sometimes fail to live up to what I know is right and good. Sometimes I tire of my own weaknesses and failures. I long to be more like Jesus. I've come to realize that the only way for that to happen in my life is to spend time with Him. He desires that even more than I desire it, and He knows how much I need that in order to survive a way-to-busy life, in a way-to-evil world.

I want not to just survive life in this ungodly world of ours, but to be an example of how He wants us to live -- to be a light in a dark place.

This morning during my "quiet time" (the time I set aside every day to meet with God), I found the key to refreshment when my soul is weary. I've read it many times before, but today it jumped right into my lap and made me go "Hmmmm..."

According to the Bible (The Message paraphrase), in Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said,
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

3 comments:

Cindy Pruitt Carlson said...

Chad and I are both worn out! We have so much uncertain in our lives right now, and that passage is awesome. I am going to share it with Chad. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

The world overloads us. We overload ourselves. But Jesus' load on us is "light!" Why? Becuse he knows how much we can carry and carries it with us.
Yes I share some of your struggles in this sinful world too.
Uncle Ed

CML_Shearings said...

How neat that you too are reading "The Message" during quiet time. I love to read it to get new perspective on passages I know & have memorized. This entry was a great example of that! We have enjoyed Drake for 3+ days. He has sure mellowed from what he was like the first time we dogsat.