He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. (Isa. 40:29)
Working with a traveling youth camp all summer was not a walk in the park. It was actually some of the hardest work I’ve ever done. About halfway through my summer, I began to burn out. Then I felt the Lord leading me to go and be alone with him. That’s how I ended up in the prayer garden of a college in Iowa. It was there, through the reading of the book of Ecclesiastes, that the Lord reminded me of what was really important. I had focused so much and worked so hard on the what of ministry that I completely forgot the why. It was only when I found myself alone with the Lord that my soul could be renewed.
Western culture teaches us to go and never stop. The Bible commands us to go, but it also commands us to be still. If we work and never stop, we will grow weary. We run the risk of burning out, preventing ourselves from completing the race. But, we have hope—hope in a God who never grows weary, from Genesis to Revelation.
When we take the time, even if it is just a small amount, to rest in God’s presence, we are strengthened and restored. For it is by his power alone we are able to complete our mission.
Take time to rest completely in God’s presence today.
Ethan Zent is from Fort Wayne, Indiana. He’s studying worship leading and pursuing Wesleyan ordination at Kingswood University.
© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
