This coming October marks four years that I've been a pastor's wife at a church I dearly love. These years in ministry have been wonderful years, and also sometimes challenging; they've been joyful years, and also sometimes exhausting. Much like every other pastor's wife I know, life in ministry has meant indescribable blessing, and also at times, seasons of profound weariness.
Weariness should never take us by surprise
Weariness should never take us by surprise, should it? We know that tiredness, weakness, and frailty of heart are a part of the story told by the ancestors of our faith. We read through the psalms written by King David, and we hear the words of a man who grew tired and restless and often weary to his very core.
In those times of weariness, when life and ministry has stretched me thin and I come face to face with my own weakness and shortcomings, far too often I simply continue to plod along in my own strength. Weariness takes over, but I'm so busy being busy, that I fail to stop and reflect upon the One who supplies His children with strength. So many times I've been tired—utterly spent—and yet proudly, foolishly, I somehow fail to hear Jesus' words:
"Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Today, as my heart was stirred through the teaching of Nancy Leigh DeMoss, I heard His voice. "Come to me, daughter, and I will give you rest."
The One who helps us love and serve others is limitless.
With gentleness but passion, Nancy reminded us that as we go about our lives, desiring to help the people God puts in our path, we simply cannot help them without God's help. We're so limited, each one of us, and yet our God—the One who helps us love and serve others—is One who is limitless. Sometimes when I think about my church family, I begin to feel overwhelmed with all the people I can and should love better and serve better than I do.
It's refreshing to remember the simple truth that each one of us is limited in our own strength. When we feel weary and unable to better help, it's often because we actually are! Think of all the ways we're limited. As Nancy outlined for us:
- We're limited in our understanding.
- We're limited in our compassion.
- We're limited in our availability.
In Christ we have access to His infinite, renewing grace.
We're marked, each one of us, by limitations. This shouldn't discourage us, because we don't walk through this life alone. We belong to a God who is infinite and who will supply infinite grace to help us help others. On our own, we know such limitations in our ability to help others. But in Christ, we have access to His infinite, renewing grace.
Perhaps you, like me, need to hear this message tonight. We are weak. We are frail. We are limited. But God is our refuge and our strength.
"This mighty God who needs nothing and is all sufficient stoops down to help us. He does for us what we cannot do for ourselves." (Nancy)
Perhaps you, like me, need to hear the words of your Savior: "Come to me . . . and I will give you rest." As we respond to His summons to come, sometimes the weariness remains. Sometimes rest, in the moment, is still elusive. But His grace is sufficient, and He will supply us with the strength that we need for right now.
"Our weakness showcases His strength." (Nancy)
As Nancy concluded, she quietly raised her voice in prayerful song; a choir of seventeen hundred voices joined her and, together, we sang these words:
"I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord. No tender voice like Thine, can peace afford. I need Thee, oh, I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee. Oh, bless me now my Savior, I come to Thee."
Tonight, will you join your voice to ours?
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