Re: I cannot continue this way.
Submitted by GCFboi2 on July 4 2001 16:38:05
In reply to I cannot continue this way. submitted by The Continental on June 30 2001 13:26:41
|
Continental, I think I understand a bit how you feel. I've spent much of my life struggling with similar feelings, and I still do. Just a couple things: When I thought over your post, a couple of bible passages came into my mind. One was the one that Ben quoted, "Apart from me you can do nothing." The other one was Psalm 23. A good psalm for times of stress, loneliness, and exhaustion I think. "The Lord is my shepherd". We are still the Lord's sheep, even though as Christians we are called to tend the flock, we cannot become the Shepherd in the same way Jesus is. We still need him to shepherd us too. If you are empty and tired, perhaps it's necessary to let God tend to you for a while. As someone else here stated, even Jesus took time off from the crowds. It's not good to try to give 110% all the time, and certainly not to do it without God's help. Our limitations are one reason why God created the Sabbath, for example, as a time of rest. It's taken a lot of time for me to come to understand these things better, and I admire your tenacity and desire to care for others and be selfless. That is quite admirable. After years of being let down when other people did not meet my expectations, when they did not treat me the way I wanted after I felt I had done my best to love them, I came to understand that I needed a better relationship with God. That I was trying to get a type of love from people that only the Lord could really give me. I am learning how to make my relationship with Jesus the most important one in my life. This is not always easy to do, but it is worth it. Especially for people who are introverted like I am, I feel it is important to make time to spend alone with God, praying, reading the Bible, or doing whatever else will help you be closer to him. I don't know if this is what you need, but it has made a big difference in my life to realize that when I want to help others but I don't have the strength left to do it, it is okay to take some time off to recharge and let God give me the strength. Then I can go out and give to others joyfully, without worrying about their response, because I know that God is there for me no matter what. |
Follow ups: