A Weary Travelers Heart - Encouragement Café - December 22, 2017

A Weary Travelers Heart

by Holly Holton

Friday, December 22, 2017

“When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.  On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” Matthew 2:10-11 (NIV)

Have you ever been on your way to a place and saw something that looked so incredible that you had to stop? You were just drawn to seeing it? In my mind, that's what I pictured happening to the wise men.

I have no idea what actually happened, but I know that they were so drawn to the star shining above Jesus that they had to go.

They knew their king had been born and the star would lead the way. The wise men started the journey to Jesus when he was born and it took them several months (or even years) to get there. But they got to their destination.

They knew the power that had arrived on earth and the salvation that Jesus would bring, so they went to Him, even at the cost of weariness from such a long travel.

But how often do I let my weariness keep me from showing people Jesus? How easy is it to let that bad mood take hold of us, or offensiveness get the best of us? I know that if I had been among the wise men, I would have been so grumpy from the sand in my sandals, the smell of donkeys, and the stench of my own sweat from the heat that I would have missed the miracle of an encounter with Jesus.

When we give people Jesus, it is often from the overflow of grumpiness, lack of faith, or from a weary heart. I have traveled this earth for 37 years and have been following Jesus for 12, yet sometimes the Jesus I give the world is joyless, hopeless, and lifeless from the trenches I have walked through.

It's no wonder people think they don't need Jesus. We so often don't give them the real, powerful Jesus! We can talk about Jesus being able to conquer addictions, yet we don't let Jesus conquer our tongue.

We can talk about Jesus changing lives, yet our life looks no different from the person we are trying to "witness”. We talk about being daughters of the King, yet we live like victims.

We are called to be imitators and followers of Jesus, imperfect but full of the Holy Spirit. We cannot, in our own strength, survive this world with the love, peace and joy we are called to live out.

It's when we realize this and lay our own strength down at the feet of Jesus where He can truly and radically change our hearts. Jesus can do so much with a broken and weary heart, a heart that realizes it can't be complete without Him.

Because isn't a weary heart dependent on Him, the only thing that Jesus wants? Bringing Him gold, frankincense and myrrh would be so much easier.

But the heart of the wise men, a heart that will travel the journey through weariness and come in expectation of the power and love like no other, reflects what Christmas is all about.

What are you weary from, sweet friend? What overflow are you living out of? This world is hard and it is only through Jesus where we find rest and the love that we all so desperately crave.

If the Jesus you are showing the world is not the Jesus you believe in, pray and ask God to show you the areas that you are still trying to take control of. Don’t be afraid to surrender everything. It is at the most broken that God can turn around to be the most beautiful.

Heavenly Father, Thank You so much for sending your Son. For equipping us with the power of the Holy Spirit so that we can live as imitators of Jesus. Thank You for taking our incomplete and weary hearts and giving us rest and unfathomable love. Lord, help us not to miss You in the trenches of life. Help us to always seek You for refuge and strength. Help us to know it is in Your perfect love that we can love and show Your love to the world.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

© 2017 by Holly Holton, All rights reserved.

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