Are You Weary of Being the Giver?

I do not know of any helpmeet/mother who does not occasionally weary of being the giver. It is easy to be overwhelmed by all that is required of us. The demands of being a wife, a homemaker, a mama, etc can be draining, and I have seen in myself and the women I love the tendency to get drained dry, to come to the point where we have nothing left to give. The modern human response to this weariness is often something along the lines of, "I've just got to get away!" I have bought into this thinking more often than I'd like to admit. I'm not saying there is anything inherently wrong with "getaways," but they are not God's ideal answer to the dilemma.

Recently some thoughts in Elizabeth George's book A Woman After God's Own Heart really struck me. She says, "What happens when you and I do slip away to be with God in study and prayer? We receive. We take in. We are nurtured and fed. We insure our spiritual health and growth. When we spend time with Christ, He supplies us with strength and encourages us in the pursuit of His ways." (Emphasis mine)

There we stand, drained and weary, longing for someone to "give to us for a change." There He stands, ready, waiting, and eager to GIVE to us. And we don't have the time/energy/desire to take a few minutes a day to spend in fellowship with Him. We will not make the effort to develop the habit of "walking" with Him, of practicing His presence no matter our location or activity. We give and give until we are dry, while the greatest Giver of all waits for us to accept His filling, His giving. Getaways are all well and good, but the true answer is in abiding in Him, not in escaping His call on our lives.

I was both broken and blessed by this realization, and began to look at some of the ways in which the Lord wants to give to us. Would you like a peak?

Psalm 29:11 ~ The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace.

Psalm 84:11 ~ For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Psalm 119:130 ~ The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

Proverbs 3:34 ~ He gives grace to the afflicted.

Matthew 7:9-11 ~ Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

Matthew 11:28 ~ Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

John 14:27 ~ Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

Romans 5:5 . . . and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 8:32 ~ He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

2 Thessalonians 2:16 . . . our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace . . .

James 1:5 ~ But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

1 John 5:20 ~ And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

So, my fellow weary woman, I want to encourage you - Go to the Giver!! He's ready and waiting to fill your weary soul with blessings beyond what you can ask or think!