W is for Weary by Carol Harrison

 

W is for Weary

Of all the wonderful words that begin with the letter ‘w’, why choose one like weary that can be a bit discouraging? I believe, if we are honest with ourselves, we all have times of weariness. We get weary at the end of a long and busy day or when we are not feeling well. A good night’s rest helps alleviate this and helps us feel refreshed.

If you’re like me, there are times I grow weary of more revisions in my writing, one more edit, or figuring out what is the best way to market the writing or published books we have sitting on our shelves. A little help from a good editor, a fellow writer, and someone who can help with marketing strategies can help give us respite from this weariness.

Yet there are times when emotional turmoil invades our lives and it feels like there is one too many tough things thrown at us that leave us weary in spirit. A dose of hope can combat this weariness.

Charles Stanley said, “We can be tired, weary, and emotionally distraught, but after spending time with God we find that He injects into our bodies energy, power, and strength.”

Isaiah 40:29-31 says, “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

God tells us in Jeremiah 21:25, “For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus tells us, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Maybe weary is the word that kept coming back to my mind no matter how I tried to find a different word beginning with w because it seems to be the season I am in at the moment. Yet as I searched for scriptures and quotes and the word, God brought to mind the promises of rest for my weary soul.

Charles Spurgeon reminds us, “In the same way the sun never grows weary of shining, nor a stream of flowing, it is God’s nature to keep His promises. Therefore go immediately to His throne and say, “Do as you promised.”

These verses and promises that God never changes and always keeps His promises encouraged me in my weariness. May they encourage you as well as we wait on God’s timing and rest in His promises.

  

Carol Harrison lives in Saskatoon, SK, and has been writing for the last fourteen plus years. Some days the blank screen mocks these days and she knows it is a season of waiting.

The Hands of Jesus by Carol Harrison

We planned to have an Easter program during our Family Night at church and invite many guests to attend, but the virus cancelled our event. Long before we knew of the spread of COVID-19 and all the restrictions our lives would now include, I wrote some monologues about people who experienced the touch of Jesus during his earthly ministry. Our plans changed but the message remains unchanged. Jesus ministry, death, and resurrection offer His touch throughout history including during this time of isolation, sheltering-at-home, and social distancing.

During Jesus' ministry on earth he interacted with individuals and crowds. He taught and did miracles. There are instances recorded in the Bible of how his handsphysically touched people.

 In Matthew 8:1-4 Jesus touched a man with leprosy, the untouchable, the outcast, and healed him. Once he received the healing touch from the hands of Jesus, he could rejoin his community, his family, his church without the social distancing, and give up the isolation he had needed to endure.

In John 9 Jesus healed a man who had been blind from birth. No one paid a lot of attention to him while he was blind and begging at the side of the road. He had no social status, no job, nothing to call his own, and remained at the fringes of society. Yet Jesus chose to spit on the ground and make mud that he placed on the blind man's eyes. The blind man received the attention of the rulers and the crowds after he washed at the pool of Siloam and received sight. But Jesus noticed and touched him while he still remained isolated. The man did not know who Jesus was but he confirmed to others in John 9:25 "One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!"

Jesus had compassion on the crowds and loved the children. In John 6:1-4 we read about the little boy who gave his lunch to Jesus. I can imagine him thinking something like this, I'm just a kid, a hungry boy with a lunch of five loaves and two little fish. I'm here listening to this Jesus along with thousands of others but no one pays attention to a kid. Everyone is hungry just like me. No one else seems to have any food with them so I gave my lunch to Jesus. He took it in his hands and prayed. There was enough food for all of us with leftovers too. I'm just a kid but He took my lunch in His hands and fed everyone. 

In Mark 5:21-24 it was one of the synagogue rulers, Jairus, that sought out Jesus. He pleaded with Jesus to come and heal his twelve-year old daughter who was on the verge of death. By the time Jesus arrived at his home, the girl had died. Yet Jairus witnessed the hands of Jesus touch her and raise her from death.


Peter, one of the disciples, followed Jesus during those years of ministry. He listened to His teachings, saw the miracles, and spent time with the Son of God. In Matthew 14 Jesus, during the middle of the night,  walks on the water toward the boat with the disciples had taken to cross the lake. Fear gripped this band of followers. Impetuous Peter figures if this is really Jesus, he could just go to Jesus if asked to do so. I imagine Peter recounting that night. Jesus told me to come, so I did. I climbed out of that boat and started walking on the water to Jesus. Then I took my eyes off him. Boy those waves were big and the wind whipped them around me. I was afraid and I started to sink but Jesus reached out His hands and pulled me up. His hands rescued me. 

The hands of Jesus did so much more. They bore the nails Roman soldiers drove into them as they hung him on the cross. They bled for us - for our sins, our wrong words, actions, and thoughts. He willingly offered himself as the sinless Lamb of God because of God's great love for us. Yet the cross was not

the end but the way for Him to offer the ultimate, once-for-all sacrifice.The grave could not hold him. Hallelujah He arose. Jesus is alive.

Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, came to earth to pay the penalty for all of us. Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 6: 23 reminds us that His death and resurrection are God's gift to us. "For the wages of sin in death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Jesus had compassion on the crowds, on the individuals, and called all to come to Him to find rest, to find healing, and to find forgiveness during His time of ministry. Today Jesus still calls us to come to Him, to follow Him, to take His hand, and allow Him to touch us right where we are. He longs to forgive, to heal, to guide and direct, to comfort us in times of trouble and isolation, and to give us victory in our everyday lives.



Matthew 11:28-30 says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

 His hands touched the outcast, the children, those on the fringes of society, the synagogue rulers and their families, the loyal followers, and He had compassion on the crowds. The hands of Jesus bled for us when he took our place and became our sacrifice. He waits for us to come. As we remember the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus what do we need victory over, forgiveness in, and healing of our minds and bodies? Coming to Jesus and celebrating the meaning of Easter is never restricted by viruses.

Carol Harrison loves to share stories, from her home in Saskatoon, of everyday life and of the fingerprints of God in our everyday lives.

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The Call of the Cross by Carol Harrison

The Call of the Cross

 I struggled to figure out what to write about for this blog post as I looked ahead to Easter. Then my mind was drawn back a few decades to a play written by a lady in our church for a group of us- junior high girls- not only to learn the lines and perform it, but to reflect on the meaning of the cross.

I remember taking part in a few performances, playing the part of the evangelist calling people with the words of Jesus from Matthew 11:28-30  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." 

The importance of the cross, its meaning, and our need to choose what we would do with the gift of God offered to us through Jesus was intertwined with Jesus' invitation to come to him throughout the play. Each person who answered the call of the evangelist needed to decide what to do with the words of Luke 9:23-26 "Then he (Jesus) said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."

Those not acting in the play sang old hymns  between the people who came seeking to take up their cross and follow Jesus. The music and words of hymns such as The Old Rugged Cross by George Bennard b 1873, Beneath the Cross of Jesus by Elizabeth C Clephane 1863 & Frederick C. Maker 1881, or When I Survey the Wondrous Cross by Isaac Watts 1707 and Edward Miller 1790 helped drive the message of the cross deep into my heart.

One person in the play chose a pretty  piece of cross jewelry to wear instead of a heavy, ugly wooden cross. She wanted to follow Jesus but didn't want the hardships. She wanted the cross to be beautiful, ornamental, and able to be taken off when she chose to do so.

Another one came to answer the call but feared what people might think of their decision. She chose a small cross that fit in her pocket. She could reach in and touch it, remember Jesus, but not have to lug around something for all the world to see. She was ashamed to admit she followed Christ and went away saddened by having to choose the full meaning of the cross.

Yet one more person, in this play, showed up to answer the call of Jesus to come and follow Him. They chose a smaller cross to carry because they didn't want the heavy burden of the rough, old, wooden, full-size cross. They wanted to know if this would be good enough to show others they were not ashamed of following Jesus without giving up too much.

One last person showed up to answer the call.  She chose to deny herself and obey Jesus with everything she was and had. She picked up the heavy cross, staggered under the weight and yet felt  refreshed because Jesus took all her burdens and sins as she accepted God's gift of salvation. Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ."

Decades have blurred all the details of the play, but the message remains strong in my heart and mind Incorporating music and the visual actions of the play reinforced the Bible verses and the message of Easter. The call of the cross remains the same today as it did when Jesus died on it, was buried and rose again. Jesus still calls us to come to him, deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him completely. Do we come? Do we deny ourselves or are we ashamed and want to hide the fact we follow him? Do we want life to be easy and long for a prosperity gospel, that does not require much of us? Do we adorn ourselves with the cross in the form of jewelry but never think about the cost to Jesus of hanging on the rough cross of Calvary to pay the penalty for our sins? Have we decided to follow Jesus no matter what the cost, any place he leads, and totally trust Him for everything we need?

Verse 3 of the hymn, Old Rugged Cross, reminds us of the reason for the cross. Do we find it a thing of beauty because of what it symbolizes?

In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine
A wondrous beauty I see; 
For' twas o that old cross
Jesus suffered and died
To pardon and sanctify me.  




Words from verse 3 of Beneath the Cross of Jesus call me to examine myself. Can I honestly say with the hymn writer that my glory is in the cross of Jesus?


Content to let the world go by, 
To know no gain or loss, 
My sinful self, my only shame, 
My glory all the cross.

As I reflected back on the impact this play had on me, looked at the meaning of the call of the cross, and contemplated Easter's approach, I pray God will help me not be ashamed of following Him. I desire His help so I can live the lines from the hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous cross, 
On which the Prince of glory died, 
My richest gains I count but loss, 
And pour contempt on all my pride. 

Were the whole realm of nature mine, 
that were a present far too small;
Love so amazing , so divine, 
Demands my soul, my life, my all. 

Carol Harrison lives, writes, and tells stories from Saskatoon, SK. She loves to share Bible Stories and real-life experiences to encourage others and help them learn to share their stories as well.