Weary in the work, but not weary of it.

My husband recently gave a lesson from I Thessalonians to our marriage group at church. It was focused on being thankful for God's motivation of faith, hope and love. He started the entire night with the illustration that our relationship with God should create change in our sinful lives. He spoke of how, when he was a bachelor, he would take leisurely lunches at work, go to the gym, socialize and then work late into the evening. When he got married, the new relationship inspired him to work harder during the day so he could get home at a decent hour in the evening. The birth of our son was an even newer relationship that spurred an earlier hour home due to an early bedtime for Carter. Relationships can inspire and motivate change. How much should Christians' most precious relationship, that with our Heavenly Father, create action and change in our behavior and attitude?

The specific point that spoke to me the most was the discussion of how we spend our time. As nonbelievers, our focus and time were spent on ourselves. As Christians, faith leads to work and love leads us to service to others and God. This is the change we should see. I Thessalonians 1:2-3 states,

"We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We
continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus
Christ."

All this is possible because of the motivation of our hope and salvation! It gives us the endurance to become the servants that Christ so desires for us to be.

Often people shy away from "overcommitting" themselves, or they don't step into service because they don't want "burnout." Ryan addressed this with a famous quote from D.L Moody. It is said that Moody was having a particularly stressful week and was extremely tired. People around him saw his fatigue and asked him to cancel his immediate plans and meetings in order to have a break. His response was no. As it was told, he said, "I am weary in the work, but I am not weary of it." He wasn't weary of it because his focus was not on himself. He was looking outside of himself and at others. He had the eternal perspective that heaven is for rest and comfort. As Christ modeled and explained, for His followers, this life is for servitude, all for the Kingdom of Heaven.

I am not saying that rest is unbiblical. God set up a day of rest because He knows we need breaks and respite. Sleep and relaxation are gifts given to us to RENEW us for more work, not to become excuses to REPLACE our time to work. This doesn't sit well with most Christians in today's consumer culture. Even within our church, the needs are many, the harvest is plenty, and the workers are few.

To just list a few examples at our church, the childcare ministries team is desperate for workers. The toddlers' room and nursery are often understaffed. Thursday nights, the coordinator was almost in tears over her dismay at what to do. She had three cancellations at the last minute and no substitutes to work in certain classrooms. AWANA needs leaders, and thus has had to turn away new sign-ups to a waiting list. The Navigating Motherhood ministry needs table leaders to effectively disciple all the new women who are attending, many of who are not Christians and this is their only exposure to church. These are just needs I have heard about THIS WEEK. What would be exciting is if the needs were known, announced or heard, and too many volunteers stepped forward and excitedly asked to represent Christ to others. For now, unfortunately, some of the harvest is being neglected.

What about the command of I Peter 4:10? "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms." How can we say we are burned out serving others and God? We are tired because we focus on how much time we aren't able to serve ourselves. This battle will always leave us unsatisfied and upset. Our goal of comfort and "balance" needs to change into a motivation to obey God and put ourselves last. "But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves." Luke 22:26

I certainly was reminded of my own selfishness by this sermon. How easily I pout when Carter awakes early and my sleep or "down time" is interrupted. I groan inside when someone approaches me to work at church in an area I don't always find easy and enjoyable. I often panic when someone starts a question with, "Can I ask you a favor . . ." Instead of being dragged into service with reluctance, I need to joyfully jump at helping others because it is molding me into the likeness of Christ Jesus. I know God will provide me with the strength, endurance and love I need to be effective. If I keep the right perspective, I can better understand the point of D.L. Moody. I might weary in the work, but I won't weary of it.