I always find it amazing that when I am going through a trial I will suddenly start hearing the same message from multiple unrelated sources. Recently I have been struggling with something I have been calling depression. This has been going on all year. The longer I struggle, the more people find out about it. As I break down and share it with more people, more prayers are offered on my behalf. I do not doubt that this fact has had an impact on this message.
In November and December a couple of situations really took a swing at my confidence level, or was it my pride, and I fell rather quickly into a state of what I will call defeat. I lost my passion, motivation, and even much of my desire for ministry. This has affected every area of my life. The message that I am now seeing come to light is that of wholeheartedness.
In the book *FISH! TALES I read yesterday that, "The antidote for exhaustion is wholeheartedness. It is those things you do halfheartedly that really wear you out." I realize that I have been approaching life halfheartedly for many months now, and I completely agree that wholeheartedness is energizing as I look back to the times when I was thriving. Today in **MERE CHRISTIANITY I discovered C.S. Lewis expressing that "a kind of gaiety and wholeheartedness" is the "natural accompaniment of courage." That is what I have been missing!
I would not be so quick to embrace this idea were it not for the fact that I know it to be scriptural. Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." I am also reminded that 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." How can I do something, anything, for the glory of God with half my heart?
I have been holding back, but that has never worked out very well for me. Lord, please free me from the prison of halfheartedness in Jesus name! Amen.
*FISH! TALES Copyright 2002 ChartHouse Learning Stephen C. Lundin, Ph.D., John Christensen and Harry Paul.
**MERE CHRISTIANITY Copyright 1952, C.S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. Copyright renewed 1980, C.S. Lewis Pte. Ltd.
