Rowing Is Hard Work
So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerebbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.” Zechariah 4:6.
Picture yourself rowing your boat in the rough seas, working extremely hard and not really getting any closer to shore, all the while right behind you sits an idle outboard motor just waiting to be used to power your boat back to shore. Sounds silly, right? But it is true, that is how we sometimes operate, under our own power and strength. We so often find ourselves working harder and harder, but not necessarily smarter. There is a saying that re-surfaces from time to time that goes like this – “It isn’t the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.”
The same can be said of the things we do for God. It can be said that God is often pleased with our path but sometimes disappointed in our approach. We find ourselves simply trying to push through the waves under our own power, often rowing into the wind, our muscles tiring, our energy drained from the endless exertion, and really getting no closer to the shoreline than when we started. I am sure that is true of me at certain times in my own life and ministry. But the work of ministry is from overflow not from overwork.
Before you think only clergy (this group has many different names depending upon one’s faith tradition) do ministry, making this post irrelevant to you, let me say that by ministry I mean not just what that select group of people do, but rather, it is what every Christ-follower does in serving God. This is called the priesthood of all believers. When we use our gifts, talents, and abilities to help other people, that’s ministry in its purest sense. There is nothing fancy about it. It is just serving others in God’s name. Cutting an elderly neighbor’s grass or walking along a friend who is struggling are ministry just as much as preaching on a Sunday morning.
Scripture is clear that when we have Jesus we also have His power source, the Holy Spirit. (Read John 14:15-17 and 1 Corinthians 3:16.) That power is readily available, we just so often fail to tap into it! And as the verse at the beginning of this post tells us, we will accomplish bigger and better things when we rely first and foremost on the Holy Spirit, and let Him direct our path, rather than simply working harder and harder and harder.
Not only do we get the indwelling presence (permanence, possess spiritually) of the Spirit as part of the package deal, we are promised His power as well. In response to whether he was going to restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:1-6) now that he (Jesus) had risen from the dead, here is what Jesus said – “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (vv.7-8).
That same power is available to every Jesus-follower today. Power to do more than we might think possible (Ephesians 3:20).
So today, stop operating under your own power and strength. Tap into the power source within you and begin to be amazed at what you can accomplish when you work from His overflow rather than your overwork. Rowing is hard work.
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