Busy-ness

Ruth Bell Graham gave us all something to ponder when she said “Beware the barrenness of busy-ness.” The thesaurus lists some synonyms of barrenness:  unfruitfulness, unproductiveness, ineffectualness, and  wasteland. There is definitely a barrenness that comes from being busy and over-committed, when our priorities get out of whack and the “cares of this world” choke the life out of us.  Busyness, even in ministry, can cause us to neglect “abiding in the vine” — that relationship with Jesus that is life-producing and life-sustaining.  We have probably all experienced it.  We neglect our quiet time in God’s Word and in fellowship with Him, and then even those good things that we are doing become works of the flesh instead of works of the Spirit.  That’s when the stress of doing it in our own strength makes us susceptible to “burn-out”, defined as a state of exhaustion and discouragement.  I Cor. 15:58 makes it clear that God never intended us to burn out — in fact, He says “Be ye steadfast, immovable, ALWAYS ABOUNDING in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

The Lord Waits

Occasionally, I want to take the opportunity this blog affords me to share some inspirational and devotional thoughts that apply to ministry.

“Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you” (Isaiah30:18a)

A.W. Pink comments on this verse in his book Elijah:  “So often (God) allows things to get worse before there is any improvement.  He “waits to be gracious.”  Why?  To bring us to the end of ourselves and of our resources, till all seems lost and we are in despair: that we may more clearly discern His delivering hand.”

I was just wondering how often God “waits to be gracious” to us because we are so busy exhausting our own resources, instead of looking for His deliverance?

Ministry in the Heart of our Home

Psalm 128:3 speaks of a wife as being a fruitful vine in the very heart of her house.  What a wonderful prayer goal for us–because our ministry begins in our home.  How wonderful if, at the very heart of our home–the part that is not on display to the world–the fruit of the Spirit would be flourishing.  Maybe a fruit bowl full of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control is the “much treasure” that Proverbs 15:6a says is found in the house of the righteous.