There are days that you work hard with your body, and that is
when your body aches and you have pain for sometime. Physically you feel drained. But there are other days where you situation
leaves you emotionally aching. That is
when you are emotionally drained, and often the emotions make your body feel
fatigued as well.
In my job there is a lot of emotional fatigue because I put
so much of myself into the people around me.
These are the people attached to our church and friends who have become
part of my heart. These people mean much
to me, and when they hurt, often I hurt.
This past Monday was a difficult day for many of my fellow
Oklahomans, yet I talked to many people who are hurting because in the mix of
those severely hurt or killed by the tornados where children. To hear about those 3rd grade students in
Moore, Oklahoma that died in the storm is almost too much to learn about. It reminds me of the people killed in the
Boston bombing or in the children killed at Sandy Hook, Connecticut school in
December of last year. Many of you like
me were riveted to the news and mourned the death of children we had never met.
In the past several weeks many situations have drained my
heart and my strength. This past evening
I sat holding the hand of a dear friend battling cancer. Several weeks ago I sat with a dad who told
me how his wife left town with their young son.
This dad was devastated. I sat
with a young husband a few weeks who shared with me about the difficultly in
his marriage and his desire for restoration.
A wife and mother called me not long ago and shared with me how her
husband said he was done with their marriage.
Recently I spent some times with grandparents who young grandchild was
battling terrible health issues. I listened
to a dear friend tell me about a special lady in her life is being hit hard
with the affects of cancer as treatments are leaving her with very difficult
problems.
That is just a few things, and you would agree that those
situations cause fatigue as you deal with them and even when you have people
you really care about as they share with you.
God calls us to do life together.
That means we share our joys and sorrows. That means we are our brother and sisters
keeper. God created us for relationships. By sharing life we share the ups and the
downs of life with each other.
Here are a few things that are important in relationships:
Ephesians 4:32 NLT
Instead, be kind
to each other, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Kindness goes a long way.
Being tender is very important.
Relationships can’t work without give and take which includes
forgiveness.
1 Peter 4:8 NLT
Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love
covers a multitude of sins.
Love is a big deal.
Real love is unconditional and looks like what God has for us as we
share it with others.
If one
part suffers, all the parts
suffer with it, and if one part
is honored, all the parts are glad.
We might not have the same mom and dad, but we have the same
God. That makes us family, and when one
of our members hurts, we all hurt.
May God help us to connect with each other even more. May our connections bring courage and
encouragement, strength and a source of inspiration, peace and a sense of God’s
presence. God created us to share life
together and that makes the hard decisions of life a little easier.
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