My heart is so heavy these days. People that care about me take notice and ask
why I am down. That's not an easy
question to answer. I squeeze out part
of an answer, but a complete explanation evades me. I've thought a lot about it myself, and I
feel like I've come to a few conclusions.
There are plenty of things in life on the surface that are
very easy to blame. The weather
discourages me greatly. My chronic cough
is equally discouraging. Being behind on
my bills is hard. The ministry is
tough. The list goes on, but I'll cut it
off there because my intent is not to complain.
Sure, if none of these things were true my heart would be less heavy;
but they are not the true reason.
I know the answer to what brings joy regardless of
circumstances; regardless of the weather, sickness, and financial hardships. A passionate, zealous, and earnest pursuit of
God based on an extravagant love of Christ.
That's what brings complete joy.
I know this to be true from John 15 and, my favorite book,
Philippians. Paul said he has learned
the "secret" to being content in every situation. That word appears nowhere else in scripture;
how mysterious.
I am not satisfied with the deepness of my relationship with
God. In fact, it has been more intimate
at times in the past than it is now.
It's not from a lack of desire. I
want more than anything to be as close to God as I possibly can while I'm still
in this earthly body. So I look back to
the times when I have felt the closest to my savior and examine them for clues. The common denominator I found was being
surrounded by people who were seeking the same thing. Iron sharpens iron. I look to the Bible and I see people working
in pairs. Jesus sends them out in
pairs. Paul had ministry partners. Edifying each other, building each other up,
growing together. Do you know what
happens when you spread apart the logs in a fire? A log on its own will likely go out.
A passion for Jesus Christ and his mission will not be
sustained on its own. The reason I have
a heavy heart is because no one around me is passionate, I mean really
passionate, about following Christ. No
one is willing to follow him with reckless abandon. No one is willing to lay down their own plans
for their life to be where God wants them.
No one is willing to give up everything they have to see God's will
done. No one is willing to love God so
much that, in comparison, their family relationships look like hate. Jesus really said that's how much we need to
love Him.
There's got to be someone.
Someone who shares my vision.
Someone who God has in store to partner in ministry with me. That is my prayer. Would you join with me in praying that God
would send someone to sharpen my faith?
