Supply and Demand part 3
Here's one of the areas in which we seem to get into trouble--and not only get into trouble, but STAY in trouble--we stretch ourselves too thin. And, listen, I'm definitely of the opinion that its better to burn out than rust out. Rest is not inactivity. It is Holy Spirit directed activity. And the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Love, so it (HE) will only ever direct us to love. But love isn't running around like a chicken with your head cut off trying to get something. Love is giving. Giving everything you have and everything you are. Laying your life down for your friends. And (here's the tricky part) not expecting anything back. Love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. Love doesn't keep a record of rights and wrongs. Basically, love doesn't care who you are or what you've done or what you're going to do. Love loves because it (HE) is love. Love is not just what God does. Love is who God is. Love is the very nature of God. And He has given us that same nature. We have been conformed to the image of God's only begotten Son, because God's only begotten Son lives in us, and through us, and as us. Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. So what I'm trying to say today is... love everybody. All the time. But don't get burned out either. Because while there IS a lot to be said for ministering out of hurt--God turns messes into messages, right? When you have a phd, you physically have done something, you have a unique and powerful insight that you can use to help others as they go through that same thing--but when you're on an airplane they tell you to put your OWN oxygen mask on first before you try to help anybody else. Because you can't help anybody else if you're passed out on the floor. You have to recharge. And there's an awesome example of this in John chapter 4 where Jesus meets a woman at the well of Jacob. And the point I want to draw out of that story is, "Then Jesus explained: "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work" (John 4:34 NLT). I believe we feel love the most when we are loving people. We receive it and release it. We receive it BY releasing it. Again, love is giving. So when you're giving, you're really, in a sense, getting. Its the idea of filling yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. Another one of my favorite Bible verses: "David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the LORD his God" (1 Samuel 30:6 NLT). Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. David found strength. Everything we need, its in Him. And He has already given it to us, because on the cross He gave HIMSELF to us. Everything He has and everything He is. So when we feel like we're stretched too thin, trying to do too much, letting people down because there's only one of us to go around... When the demand seems too high... dip into the supply. We're connected to the unlimited supply of love. Filled to overflowing with it (HIM). We don't need to look for love in all the wrong places, because we can just look inside. That's where God lives. That's where LOVE lives. When we need Him... He's right there!