How to keep from being Weary

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For every man shall bear his own burden. 6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. 7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all [men], especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

We have a choice in becoming weary or not. This is not primarily a physical weariness that he is speaking of. This is not even primarily a weariness of soul to which he refers. Rather, he is speaking of the spiritual strength that we have through the grace and power of God.

This great truth reminds me of something we learn in physical exercise. Most of the energy that we as humans use does not come from what we eat or drink. By far the greatest amount of energy we burn comes from our breathing. So, every physical exercise, from karate to body building, teaches us that we need to breath correctly. From the skilled runner to the musician playing wind instruments spends a great deal of time and focus on learning to breath.

We learn from a study of the Scripture that God gave us breath so that we would learn about the Breath of Life that God gives through the Holy Spirit. In fact, in both Hebrew and Greek, the same word for spirit also means breath (ruwach and pneuma respectively). So, we are reminded that the Spirit of God is the Breath of God. As most of our physical power comes from breath, so our spiritual power also comes from spiritual breath, the Spirit of God.

When Paul tells us that we have a choice to be weary or not, it is because we have a choice to walk in our own power or in the power of the Holy Spirit. Our power is exhaustible, His is inexhaustible. Our strength is meager. His is infinite.

If we are going to walk in His power and thus avoid exhaustion . . . If we are going to avoid weariness, we need to look to the Scripture for God’s council.

Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.

Jesus makes a big deal of the difference between being His servants and being the slave to anything else. He looks to the agricultural life to drive his point home with His listeners. He speaks about the yoke that cattle wears. He calls His yoke easy, and His burden is light.

The yoke is a device for joining together a pair of draft animals, especially oxen. It usually consisted of a crosspiece with two bow-shaped pieces, each enclosing the head of an animal. The crosspiece is often made of a great piece of wood. It had to be strong enough to keep the two oxen moving in the same direction. It had to be strong enough pull the plow through the dirt. This is for hard work. When Jesus says that His yoke is easy, it sounds absurd to the natural man. It sounds ridiculous only because the natural man does not take into account the power that God gives us to do the work. Our Lord is so glorious. He is the only God that not only commands but also empowers us to the right thing. He gives both the power and desire to do what He demands.

If we are going to take up the yoke of Jesus, we have to learn who Jesus is and how He serves His heavenly Father. It is not enough to try and serve God. If we try to serve God the wrong way, we will accomplish nothing.

Specifically, Jesus points to two things if we are going to serve the Father. We could look at these as two qualifications for service: to be meek and to be lowly. We are tempted to think that these two things are the same, and yet God is not needlessly redundant. Although these things are similar, they are unique and profoundly important.

Meekness is not the same as weakness, as some people think that it is. Rather, meekness is the discipline of taking your power and passions and bringing them under control of another purpose. Moses was called the meekest man that ever lived (excepting Jesus of course). Moses was meek because, as a rule, he did not allow his anger to control him. Rather he brought his righteous anger at the wickedness of his people under control of God’s higher purposes. And Moses saved the people of Israel because of that meekness.

Lowliness is pointing to humility, whereas meekness has more to do with self control. Jesus calls us to learn of Him and be lowly because he gave up his rights to glory and praise in order to come to this world as a servant. He gave up the right to be worshiped so that He could become the sacrifice for our vile sin.

It is impossible to enter into the righteous rest of the Son of God without learning Christ’s meekness and lowliness.

This Scripture refers to the faith that God gives us to enter into His Sabbath rest. We will not be able to enter in if we do not believe that that rest is before us.

The same faith unto salvation that saved our souls from death in an eternal Lake of Fire, is the same faith that will maintain us through the trials of this life. We will find rest from our weariness if we remember and believe that our eternal rest is safe and secure before us, having been provided by the Lamb of God.

The yoke I have in mind when I think of this verse is one that takes two oxen. This reminds us of our fellowship with the saints. We are not on this road by our selves. God has not called us to be “lone ranger” Christians. He has called us to a Church.

So many Christians are weary because they are trying to go it alone. But God has not called us to pull the plow by ourselves. He has designed the Church to be a place of work with those that believe the same way we do.

Phil. 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things. 9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

We need to concentrate in single minded determination if we are going to make it through to the end, the goal of our faith. What we think about could make the difference between success and failure. If we are not going to be weary, we need to control what thoughts drive and direct us.

In Phil. 4:8-9, Paul gives a list of the things that will help us in this life. If the thought does not fit into this list, we should not be thinking about it. The world would distract us from these things because Satan would love to get us into a place of poisoned thinking. Then we will have no rest, for our own thoughts betray us.

We need to follow Paul’s example. We need to follow not only in what Paul did, but also in what Paul taught. We need to teach others as well how to think so that they can have rest for their souls. We need to learn to think the way God thinks. Then we need to do what God wants us to. Then we will have the ability to feel the way that God feels about things.

The dynamic power of the Church’s growth happens because of God’s plan for spiritual reproduction. God’s plan is not so much to build big buildings or to even build big congregations. God’s program happens when someone becomes a disciple of Jesus. To be a disciple of Jesus is not limited to learning certain things and doing certain things. You are not a fully functioning disciple until you are teaching others to be disciples. But that is not enough. You need to teach those disciples to make other disciples.

Foolish parents say to their children, “Do what I say, not what I do.” Some lessons are taught, but there are many more lessons that kids learn because they are caught. Children see you do and copy what you do, often without realizing it. We have to be good examples like Paul was.

Paul brings this up by drawing attention to what they heard him say and saw him do. Paul lived out what he believed. So he was able to say, “Do what I say and do what I do.” This is what we should be able to say to those that follow us, both in family and in faith.

And again it is not enough to teach those that follow us. It is not enough to be good examples. Be we have to urge and encourage and propel them to do what they have been taught.

Keep from Being Weary

Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For every man shall bear his own burden. 6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. 7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all [men], especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

I. Consider some things Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.

      A. Consider our Savior Jesus I am meek and lowly

      B. Consider our Salvation ye shall find rest unto your souls

      C. Consider His Saints my yoke

II. Concentrate on some things Phil. 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things. 9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

      A. Taught learned, and received

      B. Caught heard, and seen

      C. Wrought do

III.Count your blessings

      A. God’s Thoughts Ps. 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! 18 [If] I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

      B. Good Steps Job 31:4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?

      C. Granted Ministry I Timothy 1:12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;