Weary In The Work, Not Of The Work

There is a blessed joy that almost always leaves an impressionable mark on my soul that feeds me in my days of trial. Simply put, the joy is communing with loved ones over a cup of coffee. This joy is simplistic in means, but perplexing in its results. There is something to the robust smell of coffee that tends to convince my spirit, that there is a new day dawning and hope is just around the corner. I cannot explain logically why this is, except that maybe it is as if God uses it to remind me that his mercies are new every morning. I think it stems from the wonderful memorials God has given me with my parents while we are on holiday at their house. My parents are early risers and have a wonderful habit of getting up and making breakfast for the family. My mother or father, I’m not sure, concocts the perfect blend of coffee and water whose aroma pursues every corner of the house. One of my favorite things about going to bed at night is waking to the delightful smell of coffee beckoning me to get up, and see that the Lord has kept us all through the night, and desires us to enjoy one another. And that is exactly what we do over breakfast. Our fellowship is sweet and encouraging. The other day God gave me the same kind of experience with a close friend in a local Starbucks.

One of my closest friends happens to be my pastor. Because of our busy schedules, we rarely get to spend time just conversing on life and ministry. A few days ago God allowed a thief to shatter the back passenger side window of their car and steal his wife’s purse. After Dave arrived home he needed me to take him into town to get his other car that was left at his school. “I’ll buy you a cup of coffee,” he offers me as we are getting in my car. I would have taken him regardless of the offer, but it was one I could not pass up. I love coffee (especially Starbucks) and I love sitting down with Dave for a time even more.

I ordered a decaffeinated coffee with a shot of cinnamon with room for cream and sugar. Dave ordered a hot chocolate. We sat at a small table with the entry way to my backside and on the left. I could see the barista creating drinks and setting them on the counter. A warm breeze would brush against my back every now and then as customers would enter. It was approximately 6pm when we arrived. The day was cooling off and the sun was beginning its trek down for the night. The smell of coffee and the sound of people conversing in the background triggered my home holiday memories. My shoulders began to relax and my soul was feeling a bit tender. And then I began to think about Dave’s day.

To have someone violate your life by stealing what God has graciously given to you is overwhelmingly frustrating and angering. Anyone who has had someone steal from them knows how distasteful you feel towards that person, and the wrath you would put upon them if you had the opportunity. Nevertheless, Dave’s perspective on the entire incident was grateful. “It’s not cancer,” he says to me with his eyebrows raised and his lip perched up on the left side. “It could be a lot worse.” he continues to say. I agree nodding my head as he went on speaking of a number of things that could be worse or that could have happened. In all of those hypothetical scenarios, God was always at the prefix. God could have let this happen, or God could have let that happen he would say. And then he would follow in some form or another; “God was merciful.”

As he was speaking, my heart was absorbing the grace that God gave him to recognize His goodness in robbery. It was almost as if Dave’s love for God poured out of him and on to me; and I was able to drink refreshingly. Add to that the heart warming environment with its sounds and smells; God was moving in side of me. It was just what I needed.

For the last 6 months or so my spiritual walk has been lethargic at best. I put in a lot of hours at work and in the ministry and see little earthly return. Here lately, a lot of the youth I am ministering to, either at school or at church, have just stopped short of being insulting toward me. And some of my kids at school have surpassed insulting me and are moving on their way to assaulting me.

I am also finding that the more physically tired I get, the more out-of-wack my spiritual life becomes. My quiet times with God have often been too quiet. There are times when reading the bible is like running in place; sure it’s good for me but I’m really not getting anywhere. There are other times when I want to read, but seem to get preoccupied doing something “more important.” My prayer life goes from inner violent screams pleading with God for mercy and repentance, or thunderous songs of praise to God for being my chosen portion; to quietly falling echoes from a bottomless pit barely whimpering words of thankfulness. Moreover, I have an enemy, which is like a roaring lion, looking for every opportunity to feast on my faith; leaving me in a bloody pool of anxiety, being nursed by the whore of unbelief. Many nights I go to bed feeling as if I have failed my family, my church, and my God.

Dave said in his sermon a two Sunday’s ago, “You can be physically tired and a good nights rest will help you. If you are spiritually weary, only God’s grace cures that.” I believe he is right. I needed the grace of God to fill my cup. And Dave pointed me, by his words and actions, to the only thing that would satisfy my soul; God’s promises. Let me show you what I mean by the example of the apostle Paul.

The apostle Paul in Galatians 6:9 says, “9And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”(ESV) In the context of this verse we see Paul encouraging the Galatian church to help bare one another’s burdens. The burdens he speaks of here are circumstances or issues that are extraordinarily heavy and cumbersome. We are all aware of the many burdens that have attached themselves to our hearts, plunging our spirit down into the depths of fatigue; spiritually and physically. Paul is encouraging the church to fulfill the law of Christ with a unified passion to love one another, by walking side by side daily in each others burdens.

This love manifest itself in strengthening one another with words of encouragement; pointing us to our holy happiness (Acts 15:32). It is enjoyed by being stewards of Gods grace, serving one another in deed and prayer, and by putting others interest above our own (1 Peter 4:10; Phil 2:4-6). It is marveled at by the world and made to display the worth and value of Christ, so much so, the elect cannot resist it (1Thessalonians 1:3-5; John 17:20-26), and the world can only say “you must belong to Jesus!” (John 13:24).

Paul encourages us not to grow weary nor loose heart in doing good. The good he is ascribing to is a God honoring, Christ exalting, love adoring, demonstrating genuine faith kind of good. This kind of “doing good” seeks to sow in the hard places. It seeks to visit the sick that are dying and minister to the distraught family. It labors to provide food for the hungry and shelter for the homeless. It strives to preach the word accurately and with authority to a generation that has bought into the American dream and has no concept of real pleasure. It goes all out to make Christ shine as beautifully glorious in the darkest places of the human heart. It sits in a coffee shop listening to a brother fatigued in the ministry. And doing hard things can get wearisome if we toil on our own. That is why Paul says to sow in the spirit; not your own spirit but the spirit of God. If you do so you will reap what is good; namely eternal life.

Without making Dave sound like a prosperity gospel preacher (a false gospel he abhors), he sowed in the Spirit that day in Starbucks. His faith and love for Christ poured out of him like a fountain and was offered to me. He did the “good thing” Paul talks about in Galatians 6:9. He could have easily gone home and went to bed or read a book or visited more with his family. But instead he sought the company of another brother and the fellowship of a friend. He listened and advised and we shared common struggles in our daily walk. In doing that he encouraged me and gave me what I needed to continue in the faith. And I believe he reaped an eternal reward. If you were to ask Dave his thoughts on the conversation, he would probably tell you he enjoyed himself as well. This is a bit perplexing if you think about it. While he was sowing, he was reaping. There is joy in doing good for others.

I find it amazing how an hour and a half with a brother in the Lord and God’s promises can be as refreshing as cold lemonade on a hot Texas day. I left Starbucks not only encouraged and relieved, but with another memorial of God’s sustaining grace. There are times when I will become weary in the work. But it is times like these that help to not become weary of the work. I know I am striving for a greater cause; even in the most minute of things (1 Corinthians 10:31)

There are a few lessons I have learned from all of this after further meditation. In my next blog I will give a few ideas that have recently helped me in my walk with God. Be good and God Bless.