Matthew 11:28 - "Worn"

I woke up this morning singing "Worn" by Tenth Avenue North.  I kind of chuckled because "worn" is exactly how I feel.  I feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster and I don't like roller coasters!  I am "worn" out physically, mentally and emotionally.  I don't want to break.  My preference is that I be able to crawl into bed and cover up my head and sleep for a few days but I don't think that's the plan.

This song was written when Mike Donehey was in a similar place.  On the morning he wrote this song he wrote in his blog:

"I need to write a song called "Worn" today, because that is exactly how I feel in the deepest depths of my inner soul.

Anyone relate?

What do you do when you don’t even have the strength to fight? Where do you turn when you feel like you don’t even have the energy to turn? Well, I have one word to offer and one word alone:

REDEMPTION.

Let that sink into every pore of your skin and every crack in your heart. Breathe it in. Marinate in it. Our God is a redeemer. It’s who He is. It’s what He does. He redeems. Which means, among other things, “to make up for. to restore worth or value.” Jesus makes up for our lack. He restores our value. By dying for us, He gives us a value and worth that we could have never had or achieved on our own. He didn’t die for us because we were worth dying for, He died for us to make us worth dying for. Does that make sense?

His life was worth mine.
Not the other way around.

Now, drudging through the piles of poop, the endless tears, and the sleepless nights, I am filled with hope, because I know one day, I will see redemption win. I will see the struggle end. And so there’s beauty to be had in every moment. God isn’t going to move because of me, He’s going to move in spite of me. He isn’t bringing glory to Himself by saving a bunch of people who get it right and who never wear out. He brings glory to Himself by redeeming the people who never got it right and who always wore out. It’s when we’re in our moments of greatest weakness that He is in His moments of greatest revelation. After all, “His strength is made perfect in weakness.”

I once heard it explained that the earth is like a garment, and where injustice prevails, that is where the garment has worn through. What Christ has done, then, and what our great privilege is to do, is to rework the fabric where it has grown thin.

He reworks the fabric.

My friends, do not grow weary. And if you have grown weary, take rest in the thought, that all he wants from you is praise, not performance. If we come to Jesus with anything more than nothing, we come with too much. All we need is need, because He’s the one who does the work, and He’s reworking all things into good for those who love Him. He’s after a grateful people, not a perfect people. He’s after a responsive people, not a self-helped one. Live loved. That’s our call. That is our job. Even when we’re worn out, worn thin, and feel like we’ve got nothing left to offer Him, all He demands is our nothing. Like the old hymn says, “All the fitness He requires is to feel your need of Him…”

Nothing is all we bring to Him
because nothing is the place that He can fill.

Woo hoo!  Thank You Jesus for these words of encouragement this morning.  I praise You for Matthew 11:28.  Come to me all you who are weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  I do feel "...crushed by the weight of this world.." but I have to remember the Lord is here for me.  Here it is 7AM and I already feel "worn"....I can so relate to the words of this song.  "Even before the day begins, Yeah, I'm worn."  Lord, help me.

Dear Jesus,
I come to You this morning weary and worn.  I pray for a rework in my physical, mental and emotional body.  I ask that You become My Strength today in such a mighty way.  Lord, I can't worry about the stuff I should be doing but need to concentrate on the stuff I am doing.  Father, give me Your Peace.  I praise You Lord because You are My Restorer!  Amen.