June 30: A good place to start at the end of the first half of the year

2 Kings 17:1-18:12

Acts 20:1-38

Psalm 148:1-14

Proverbs 18:6-7

I don't know how the last couple of weeks in your life has been, but for quite a few people I know, things have been extremely challenging - from problems at work (or the lack thereof), to problems with kids, to problems with health, to just plain exhaustion...I have been coming into contact with a lot of people whom God appears to have called to continue to live their lives, albeit with some additional burden.  Some have borne their burdens extremely well - I admit I have struggled quite a bit the last few weeks.  What to do?

What I'd like to be able to do is emulate Paul.  He went where God sent him, and everywhere it seems he went, he had the added burden of people plotting against him simply for doing God's will and preaching His word.  And despite his crazy travel schedule, he did God's work extremely diligently...we read how, because he was scheduled to leave the next day, he stayed up talking, preaching till midnight, revived someone who had fallen to his death, then kept on talking and preaching till the sun came up.  Even more so, it seems he was doing all of this with a mind to obeying God's directions and making it to Jerusalem, even if he knew he wasn't going to leave alive.  Talk about an additional burden!  How did he do it?

1.  It seems he thought nothing of himself, and everything of God.  In Acts 20:19 he says "I served the Lord with great humility..."  And in verse 24 we read that he "considers [his] life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me..."

2.  He was connected to God.  In verse 22 we know he was "compelled by the Spirit" - which would make sense, because when one is certain of what God asks, it becomes easier to go and do.  

The last couple of Sundays Pastors Scott and Kenny have talked about maintaining and strengthening our connection with God.  Part of that - and it was a really good suggestion - was taking five minutes a day to think of each and every thing we can be thankful to God for.  For someone that has been feeling down the last few weeks, that seems like a really good place to start.