As I have said before, we have just sold our house. We moved last weekend, and the house closed on Tuesday. We are now living with my parents. In the past week (during the move), they boys and I made two day trips (each about 2.5 hours away) to visit with my college roomates who happened to be in Georgia that week. This was a definite priority (even amidst the craziness) since the live in California, Idaho, and Louisiana. Meanwhile, we are still looking at houses several times a week. Yes, this is craziness. Yes, this is exhausting. Yes, this is wearisome. And yet I know we are right where God wants us. I hope hoping He will reveal His perfect plan very soon, but I also trust that His timing is perfect.
So, when I sat down yesterday to write the devotion, I had the camp staffers in mind. I was trying to think of something I learned while working at camp that would encourage them. Funny how God works. What I wrote about was exactly something that I needed to hear God speak to me and remind me of during this time. I need to know these things and be reminded of them day after day, especially during this crazy, exhausting season of our lives. So, I just thought I would share:
Weary???
I
look back over my three summers as part of the Epworth Leadership Team as some
of the best summers of my life. There
is something wonderful about being in full time ministry all summer with a
group of incredible people who become like family. There is something just plain fun about goofing off,
planning skits, and playing with kids all summer. There is something amazing about watching God take a group
of ordinary college students and using them to be a part of His work as He
changes lives. There is something
special about spending the summer at beautiful Epworth and being in awe of
God’s handiwork. And, there is
also something mind boggling about watching God work in your own life as He
shapes, molds, and changes you as you minister to others. I would go back in a heartbeat!
During my second
summer at Epworth, one of my head counselors, Jeremy Gray, gave a devotion that
had a huge impact on my life as a counselor and on my life as a Christian. It was in the middle of the
summer. I was tired, weary,
sleep-deprived. Don’t get me
wrong, I was having a blast and loving every minute, but I was just plain
tired. This particular morning,
Jeremy shared a Scripture from Isaiah.
I was already familiar with these verses, but God, as He loves to do,
blew me away with something new:
”Do you not know? Have you not heard! The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of
the earth. He will not grow tired
or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of
the weak.” (Isaish
40:28-29)
As Jeremy shared
his thoughts on these verses, it dawned on me that God had called me to
Epworth. He had called me to pour into
and to serve others. And here, He
was giving me His truth that even though I was tired and weary, HE was not. Even though I was sleep deprived, He was not. He never tires or grows weary, and
since I have His power and His life at work in and through me, I can claim His
energy and His strength as I continue to fulfill His calling to minister. Also, it does not say that He
strengthens the strong or the powerful.
It says that He strengthens the weary and the weak.
So, today,
embrace that you are tired and weary.
Trust that He will give you strength and increase your power. Know that His strength and energy never
end. Claim that His life is at
work in and through you as you serve.
Pour, pour, pour and be filled by the God whose cup never runs dry.
Enjoy this time,
LT 2013….there is no other time like this one!!
By: Christina Cleveland Glendye (LT 2002, 2003, and 2004-HC)
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