SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 40:29
(NIV)
He gives strength to
the weary and increases the power of the weak.
STORY:
Dr. Joseph R. Sizoo, great preacher of Saint Nicholas
Collegiate Church (Reformed), New York, told of visiting an army training camp
during World War II. It was early morning, the grass heavy with dew. Even so,
they sat in heavy weeds, listening to the officer lecture the men on how to
take a given military objective. To demonstrate correct procedure, a group of
seasoned soldiers on their hands and knees, hugging the wet ground, could
hardly be seen in the dawn’s early light. The officer called out, somewhat
casually, “If you advance on your knees, you are always safe.”
OBSERVATION:
When we get weary, when we get tired, when we perceive
that we are weak our “normal” response is to give up … throw in the towel …
walk away … surrender. The military officer’s suggestion, in the story above,
is right to the point. Instead of giving up, throwing in the towel, walking
away, surrendering to the enemy, we should “advance on our knees”. As Alfred Lord Tennyson said, “More things are
wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”
So should we live our life.
Susannah Wesley, mother to John Wesley the founder of the United
Methodist Church, shared: “Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness
of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish of
spiritual things, that is sin to you.”
And so we should, when facing weariness, post the Holy Spirit at the
door of our soul to stand guard less we fall pry to the sin that would tempt us
to give up. Weariness is a sign that we are on the right track, pursuing the
purpose of the Kingdom. Satan wants us to fail and give up, but God will give
us strength and power.
So should we live our life!
PRAYER:
Eternal God, make us strong in our weakness. Give us energy
when we get weary. Help us to never give up. And give us the resolve to always
approach all enemies on our knees.
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