There are days when mid-day comes and with a sense of futility. Heaving a deep sigh, I say, "What's the use of it all?" In the middle of opportunities, the devil comes whispering that life is meaningless, my efforts useless, that pleasure waits somewhere other than where I am. The wrong response is to agree and to sink into apathy that says, "Who cares? Let's just float along in the stream of life." A couple of days ago when I was feeling that way, I got up and went for a drive in my car. I told the Lord how I was feeling at that moment and He ministered to me. (I think my car is a rolling sanctuary sometimes!) One by one, He brought faces of people to my mind – people who had made new choices for life, people who had found hope and purpose in the Lord, people whose marriages were saved, etc. Did I do those things? Of course not! But, He used me as His messenger.
Disciple, apathy is just as much a sin as outright disobedience! Our God calls us to active pursuit of the good He has purposed to do through us. Time and again, the Word reminds of the vital importance of living patiently and persistently. James uses the work of a farmer to illustrate how we must meet the lie that life is without meaning. "Wait patiently for the Master's Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time." (James 5:7-8, The Message) So true, right?
Andy Stanley writes, "The daily grind of life is hard on visions. Life is now. Bills are now. Crisis is now. Vision is later. It is easy, therefore, to lose sight of the main thing, to sacrifice the best for the good. All of us run the risk of allowing secondary issues to rob us of the joy of seeing our visions come to completion. Distractions slowly kill the vision."
(Visioneering, Multnomah, 1999)
If we are living with our time and efforts focused only in secondary issues without a real vision that gives 'big picture context' to the work of the day we will feel the frustration. If we make like only about making money, we’ll feel the treadmill effect. If we make ministry just about checking off the ‘completed’ box each week, we will lose enthusiasm. Every Friday my primary task is to complete the message that I will deliver to my congregation on Sunday. I can choose to view that task in two very different lights. I can see it as 'just getting something to say on Sunday 'cause that's what is expected of me.' If that’s how I come to my desk at 8 in the morning on Friday, I know that about Noon, I'll feel that what I'm doing is 'vanity of vanities!' If I see my work as a God-given opportunity to bring His Word, to help somebody whose lost, confused, or without hope to stay the course, I have a vision that makes the effort required much less onerous.
Never lose sight of the ‘why’ behind the ‘what.’
Don't sink into the deception of the day today. Take a few moments right now to re-focus and to set the tasks that await you into a larger context of vision.
"So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord.
Remember the great reward it brings you!
Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will.
Then you will receive all that he has promised.
Remember the great reward it brings you!
Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will.
Then you will receive all that he has promised.
“For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay.
And my righteous ones will live by faith.
But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”" (Hebrews 10:35-38, NLT)
And my righteous ones will live by faith.
But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”" (Hebrews 10:35-38, NLT)
____________________
I know there's hope in anger
And some tenderness in shame
Sometimes I find You
On the other side of pain
But sometimes in the heat of day
When I close my eyes to pray
It seems like You are far from me
My prayers are all in vain
In my hour of hopelessness
In my deep despair
The noonday devil whispers in my ear
I know that You are with me
But I can't feel a thing
The noonday devil
Has come around again
Oh Lord make me angry
Oh Lord make me cry
Oh Lord please don't leave me here
To fall into the devil's lies
Father You have called me
To live a life that's true
That all my labors and my words
Would speak my love for You
But walking through this desert
Life is empty and mundane
The noonday devil
Has come around again
Oh Lord make me angry
Oh Lord make me cry
Oh Lord please don't leave me here
To fall into the devil's lies
Oh Lord make me angry
Oh Lord make me cry
Oh Lord break my cold cold heart
So I can know Your love inside
Your love inside
Noonday Devil
© 2004 Curb Songs | Cerdo Verde Music | John Andrew Schreiner Music (Admin. by Curb Records) | (Admin. by Curb Records) | (Admin. by Lori Kelly Rights & Licenses)
© 2004 Curb Songs | Cerdo Verde Music | John Andrew Schreiner Music (Admin. by Curb Records) | (Admin. by Curb Records) | (Admin. by Lori Kelly Rights & Licenses)
Fernando Ortega | John Andrew Schreiner
CCLI License No. 810055
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