I’ve noticed something about life. It doesn’t let up. It keeps coming at you on a daily basis. How many of us have said something like “Stop the merry-go-round I want to get off”? I don’t know how many times on a Monday I have said to myself, “Let’s just resign. I never seem to get done with ministry; there is always several more people to help. I can’t catch my breath for after preaching one sermon there are several more to be working on.” Ministry is daily and comes quite often.
This reminds me of the prophet Jeremiah. He was so tired of preaching and no one listening. In chapter 9 he talks about wanting to separate himself from the people and have no more responsibility for them – to be done with them. He expresses a very human desire to run away. He says in verse 2 “Oh that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people.” Let’s try and picture this. Jeremiah longs to run away to an inn in the desert. Such a place was usually sparsely furnished, for people only spent the night there. Sometimes there was an innkeeper. He had no responsibility for the guests – they fended for themselves. He could talk and trade stories with them. Then the next morning they would be gone. Hey, anyone ready to sign up for that job?
Jeremiah was so tired of his ministry being so.so.”daily”, he just wanted to get away. He wanted human communication and actions with people without responsibility. He longs to have a seat in the balcony, to be an on-looker at life. BUT it’s our life, we can’t escape it. Whether we like it or not it comes so daily and we can’t get away from it. To combat that so many try to take their own lives. Quite a few people jump from job to job, thinking the change in environment will help – yet Monday always follows Sunday and it’s back to the grind again. It is so easy to become “weary in well-doing” (2 Thessalonians 3:13).
So today I just wanted to pass on some verses the Lord has directed me to as I consider how daily life is. Maybe they will help give some new perspective to you as they have for me.
Our ministry is definitely daily: Luke 9:23 “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
There will be daily pressures as we follow the Lord: 2 Corinthians 11:28 “Besides everything else, I (Paul) face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.”
God promises to bless us as we seek Him daily: Proverbs 8:34 “Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.”
God promises to bear daily our heavy burdens: Psalm 68:19 “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.” We can cast the daily weight on Him for He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7)
God will provide what we need to daily live life: Matthew 6:11 “Give us today our daily bread.”
We are to help each other live life daily: Hebrews 3:13 “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”
Our lives can daily impact others: 1 Thessalonians 4:11b-12 “You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”
Our lives can daily make eternal differences: Acts 2:47 “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
Daily comes quite often. Yet God says, “I WILL NEVER [under any circumstances] DESERT YOU [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], NOR WILL I FORSAKE OR LET YOU DOWN OR RELAX MY HOLD ON YOU[assuredly not]!” (Hebrews 13:5 Amplified Bible). That sounds pretty “daily” to me. We have the Lord’s promise that we can do all things through Him (Philippians 4:13). Do you think that might include the hard task of living life on a daily basis?