Thursday, May 7, 2015

Flying High

As a mother with 3 young children, sleep has not been a huge part of my life the past 5 and 1/2 years!  Not that I haven't wanted to enjoy MORE sleep, but I simply haven't been given the opportunity!  With midnight and 3 am feedings, then getting up at 5 or 6 to officially start the day, uninterrupted sleep is a thing of the past.  I know in the future, I will get more sleep, but for now, it's not on the agenda.  Or at least not likely to happen.  My 17 month old has only been sleeping through the night for about 4 months, but in case you thought I was able to FINALLY sneak in 8 hours of ZZZZ, you would be mistaken.  You see, I am pregnant and up at least once in the night to go to the bathroom - and I'm only 14ish weeks along.  Haven't even hit the "I'm so big and uncomfortable" stage yet!  Like I said, I don't see sleep anywhere in my NEAR future!


This morning as I was enjoying a rare moment of "me time" during my walk, I was talking to God about how tired I was.  Then, I was hit with the reality that He NEVER sleeps.  He NEVER even RESTS.  He doesn't get to run to the bathroom and lock the door to grab a few seconds by Himself.  He never gets a day off.  He never even asks to take a 15 minute lunch break.  He doesn't ever sit down and prop his feet up after a stressful day.  His head NEVER hits the pillow.  He doesn't even have a bed!

A passage from Psalm came to mind, and as the thought of God watching over me while I rest made its way to my heart, I was overcome with gratitude yet again.

I look up to the mountains - 
does my help come from there?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!

He will not let you stumble;
the One who watches over you will NOT slumber.
Indeed, He who watches over Israel
NEVER slumbers or sleeps.

The Lord Himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon at night.

The Lord keeps you from ALL harm
and watches over your life.
The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever.

Wow!!!
I may be tired, but simply thinking about God's schedule and all that HE does in a day makes me EXHAUSTED.


He keeps the planets spinning and the moons orbitting and the stars in place.
He knows the goings on of EVERY nation on earth.
He sees every baby who is born.  And knows the number of hairs on their heads.  And every single person on the planet for that matter.
He hears every word that is said, whether shouted or whispered or muttered under your breath.  He even knows the thoughts in your head that are never spoken aloud!
He listens to every request brought before Him, never turning anyone away, for any reason.

He is a BUSY God.
Yet, He NEVER grows weary or tired.
He NEVER sends us away, saying He is too worn out to deal with one more thing.
He is ALWAYS there for us, ready and willing and eager to help us, however we need!


Isaiah reminded me of this beautiful truth and enduring promise:

To whom will you compare Me?
Who is My equal? asks the Holy One.

Look up to the heavens.
Who created all the stars?
He brings them out like an army, one after another,
calling each by name.
Because of His great power and incomparable strength,
not a single one is missing.
O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?
O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?
Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The Lord is the EVERLASTING God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He NEVER grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of His understanding.
He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find NEW strength.
They will SOAR high on wings like eagles.
They will run and NOT grow weary.
They will walk and NOT faint.

Again, WOW!
God doesn't keep all His strength and energy to Himself.
He shares it with US - with me and YOU.
Gladly.
Freely.
Abundantly.
Daily.


Jeremiah's words in Lamentations assure us of this:

The faithful love of the Lord NEVER ends!
His mercies NEVER cease.
GREAT is His faithfulness;
His mercies begin afresh EACH morning.
I say to myself, "The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in Him!"
The Lord is good to those who depend on Him,
to those who search for Him.

Thank goodness!
I don't know about you, but I personally need new mercy every single day.
From the moment I get out of bed until the time my head finally hits the pillow again at night, I am in DESPERATE need of God's faithfulness and grace and love and peace and joy and hope and wisdom and strength.  NO way could I do this life without Him!


I may not get as much sleep as I would like, but at least I DO get some rest EVERY day.
What a GIFT from God!
What a BLESSING!

I may dream of hours upon hours of uniterrupted sleep, but in the meantime, while I live out my reality from day to day, I will rely fully on my God who is my strength and my song.

As Moses sang his praises to God after He delivered the people of Israel from the Eygptian army racing towards them at the Red Sea, I too will shout out my gratitude to my God for delivering me on a daily basis!

The Lord is my strength and my song;
He has given me victory.
This is my God, and I will praise Him -
my father's God, and I will exalt Him!

I don't know where you are at today - full of energy or wanting to crawl into bed and sleep for days.  I DO know this though, God is here for you and ready to help you face whatever is on your plate today.  He will give you the strength you lack.  Look to Him, and He will NEVER let you down!  In fact, Paul promises us that God's power shines best when we are at our WEAKEST!!!

"My grace is ALL you need.  My power works best in weakness."  
So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.


Paul has even more to say to encourage us as we live out each day.  Yes, we are tired.  Yes, we are weak.  Yes, we are overwhelmed.  Yes, we can get discouraged or frustrated.  Yes, we can want to give up.  BUT, we MUST remember this:

We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like FRAGILE CLAY JARS containing this GREAT TREASURE.  This makes it clear that our GREAT POWER is from GOD, not from ourselves.

We ARE pressed on every side by troubles, but we are NOT crushed.  We ARE perplexed, but NOT driven to despair.  We ARE hunted down, but NEVER abandoned by God.  We get knocked down, but we are NOT destroyed.  Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus SO THAT the LIFE of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

Yes, we live under CONSTANT danger of death because we serve Jesus, SO THAT the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies.  So we live in the face of death, but this has results in eternal life for you.

But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of FAITH the psalmist had when he said, "I believed in God, so I spoke."  We KNOW that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise US with Jesus and present us to Himself together with you.  All of this is for your BENEFIT.  And as God's grace reaches more and MORE people, there will be GREAT THANKSGIVING, and God will receive more and more glory.

THAT is why we NEVER give up.  Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being RENEWED EVERY DAY.  For our present troubles are SMALL and won't last very long.  Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly OUTWEIGHS them and will last FOREVER!  So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we FIX OUR GAZE on things that cannot be seen.  For the things we see now will SOON be gone, but the things we cannot see will last FOREVER.


With this in mind, my friends - my tired, weary, weak, worn down, exhausted friends - do NOT give up!  Press on!  Make today count!  Use today for good.  God has given us today for a reason.  Let's make the most of it and KNOW that as we do, God will come through for us.  He WILL take our efforts - even the measly ones, even the ones when we feel like we can't do one more thing - and bless them SUBSTANTIALLY!!!

So let's not get tired of doing what is good.  
At just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up!


I am right there with you.
Tired.
Rubbing my eyes.
Pulling my hair out.
Watching the clock and hoping bedtime comes faster somehow.
And that the children magically fall right to sleep and don't get back out of bed to get a drink or go to the bathroom or have a bad dream or need another hug or ask for one last kiss.  But that they rest peacefully and soundly until 8 am the following morning.

Hey, one can hope, right?!

But, even if that doesn't happen, I am NOT giving up.
I am raising my eyes to the heavens, from where my help comes.
I am relying fully on God Himself to strengthen me and carry me when I can't take another step.
And as I do, I will SOAR to new heights!


Find YOUR wings - or rather climb on God's - and join me!













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