Tired?

Today’s Church devotional is titled "Choosing Faith over Fatigue" (shouldn’t that be fatteeged?).  Anyway, I pose a question to all ---  Are you tired of doing the right things?

Doing the right thing takes energy, determination and dedication.  The effort can take a toll on a person over time…so much so that we may be tempted to slack up, or just give up.  It was that way with the Israelites in Malachi’s day.  The offerings they were making to the Lord were not what they should have been because the Israelites were tired of offering them. IN Malachi 1:13, the Lord levels this charge against them: "But you say, 'What a weariness this is,' and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering!" (ESV).  How much like the Israelites are we? Have we become tired of worship?  Do we even attend church as regularly as we should (this includes mid-week services and Family Group Bible Studies).  And when we do attend, do we put our spirit fully into worship?

What about our home lives?  Are we tired of striving to be the husband, wife, parent or child that God expects us to be? What about our personal lives? Are we tired of an ongoing struggle against temptation? Are our daily troubles weighing us down?

Quitting is NOT the solution to weariness. The solution is to find renewed energy and a reason to keep going.  Here are three ideas from Scripture that might help you keep going even when you are spiritually tired:

1-Remember who you are serving. 
The Lord reminded the Israelites that He deserved better than what they were giving Him." For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations." (Malachi 1:14-NIV)

2-Remember the reward for which you are working.
The farmer who quits farming in the middle of growing season because it’s hot and eh’s tired is not going to produce much of a crop.  Even so, "6:9.  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9 – NIV)

3-Draw strength from the Lord.
God never gets tired.  Isaiah asks, "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? (Isaiah 40:28-KJV) "He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength." (Isaiah 40:29-ASV)
Ask the Lord to renew your strength.  "…but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:31-NIV)

Living a righteous life does not take a lot of tiring effort. "Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:3-NIV) "We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." (Hebrews 6:12-NIV)

We all have a choice to make…do we elect faith, or fatigue?  To help all to make that choice (over and over), remember the three ‘points’ up above.  Even though I’m growing older each day, and my body gets more and more fatigued just doing the simple things, I choose to have faith that God will continue to help each of us as we start to get tired of doing the right things.