Oh Soul Are You Weary and Troubled?

Oh Soul Are You Weary And Troubled?

“How I long for the months gone by.” Job 29:2 

Many Christians view the past with pleasure but regard the present with dissatisfaction. They look back on their past communion with the Lord as the sweetest and best they have ever known—but as to the present, it is dressed in mourning clothes of gloom and dreariness. Once they lived near Jesus, but now they feel they have wandered from Him, and they say, “How I long for the months gone by.” They complain that they have lost the evidence of their faith, or that they lack peace of mind, or that they no longer enjoy the means of grace, or that their conscience has grown hard, or that they have little zeal for God’s glory. There are many causes of this sad state of things. It may arise through neglect of prayer, since that is the beginning of all spiritual decline. Or it may be the result of idolatry—the heart is occupied with something other thing more than God; the affections are set on the things of earth instead of the things of heaven. A jealous God will not be content with a divided heart; He must be loved first and best. He will withdraw the sunshine of His presence from a cold, wandering heart. Or perhaps the cause is self-confidence and self-righteousness. Pride is busy in the human heart, exalting the self instead of lying low at the foot of the cross. Christian, if you “long for the months gone by,” do not be satisfied with simply wishing for the return of your old happiness. Instead, go immediately and seek your Master, telling Him your sad state. Ask for His grace and strength to help you to walk more closely with Him; humble yourself before Him and He will lift you up, once again giving you the enjoyment of the light of His face. Don’t sit down and sigh and mourn—while the beloved Physician lives, there is always hope. Even more, there is the certainty of recovery for even the worst cases. - C. H. Spurgeon Morning and Evening 

We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. EPHESIANS 2:10 So often in the past I have concentrated on this goal and that goal. I’m really into goals, objectives, and plans—both in my personal life and as the pastor of a church. But I believe that people should not concentrate so much on the goal as on the power. And as we pray, we may discover that what we thought were great and lofty goals are pale and puny alongside His goals for our life and ministry. Let us ask God to make us faithful as people of prayer, and let us pray that God will do His work through us. Then, whatever God wants to do, let’s be open to it! I have no idea what God is up to in your life and mine, but as He works through His mighty Spirit, we are about to find out! I promise you, it will not be on anybody’s chart. You are not going to find a framed copy of it hanging on the wall of some office. God is going to do it in His own way—in startling, unexpected ways—through us as we trust Him and as we pray. - Dr. David Jeremiah Morning and Evening 

O soul are you weary and troubled
No light in the darkness you see
There's light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace

His word shall not fail you he promised
Believe him and all will be well
Then go to a world that is dying
His perfect salvation to tell

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace

O soul are you weary and troubled
No light in the darkness you see
There's light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace

- Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus 

My Friend we live in perilous times. The dangers we face often come close to drowning out the joy in a life with Jesus at its center. Upon reading my devotionals today it drew me to that hymn as well.  

Right now life is very intense for me. Much is expected and wisdom at times is lacking, both in me and those with whom I work. 

I see people with whom I work who are seriously on the edge. They do not have Christ to go to, to lean on. They struggle so hard in their own weak strength to deal with the stresses of life. 

I really got it many years ago to get away with God. The underlying truth of what Jesus taught His Disciples. The Scriptures say He often got away to be with His Father. 

I don't have life's answers. When I first stumbled upon that truth it really hit me good. If you want to understand or at least get a general understanding of your life, pray. Because when you came to Christ your life no longer became your own. 

Sometimes we struggle through much of life because we, like undisciplined children run to whatever carnival rides we see. We get there and get in only to find it wasn't what we wanted or expected. 

We then look back in our lives wondering what went wrong. We either try to return to that time or put up with things, making excuses. Some realize the need to just turn their eyes upon Jesus. 

We have so many opportunities to get off the path that God’s put us on in life. 

All too often we confuse Spiritual warfare with just making bad decisions and choices. 

Sometimes, as much as WE don't like to admit it, sometimes the truth is God just needs to remove something we love in order to make us more Christ-like. It can even be something that really doesn't look bad at all. It's just in the way of the work of the Spirit in our lives. 

We then dwell on the loss rather than what we have gained in Christ. 

Jesus said that in this world we will have troubles.  He didn't hide that fact.

We get surprised when it actually happens.  We think, or a better way to put it is, we have the misunderstanding that after we came to Christ that life would be all sunshine and lollipops. 

Jesus said He knew that to live for Him would bring divisions in relationships. Would bring breakups of families. Knew that in some cases death would be the result of following Christ. 

I am one who's hardwired to try to fix things. One of my hardest lessons to learn is that people are not one of those things. Scripture says the He who began a good work in us will continue it until the day of Christ Jesus.  I am to live life in obedience to Jesus. It's the application of what we read at the end of one of the Gospels. When one Disciple asked about another. Jesus said, "What is that to you? You follow Me!".

We aren't promised a life without trouble.  We are promised a life where we are not alone. 

Millions in this world are oh so very alone. Trying to please people they don't even like. 

We who are in Christ have a purpose in God's Plan.  It's probably going to be hard but we are not alone in it. We must still take up our own cross and follow Him.  

Prayer is where Jesus always and frequently went. He put His relationship with His Father first. Not sports not even His job.

If you are weary and troubled, and all the rest of that hymn...perhaps in reading all this you will see where you need to return to.  Jesus’s phone is never busy. The line is always open.