“Revive Your work in the midst of the years…”
March 27th, 2006 | by Ed |Here’s a verse that I have often referred to…
“My days are past, my plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart” (Job 17:11).
Ever felt like Job? Job faced some painful disappointments. His plans for the future were shattered. His dreams and desires were gone. At his lowest point, Job spoke these words of despair. Fortunately, Job recovered his hope and faith in God, and he went on to live a very fruitful life.
But, tragically, many people never get past the hurts and disappointments of life. They get stuck in Job 17:11. They echo the words of David when he said, “My spirit grows faint within me” (Psalm 142:3). They’re like a dimly lit bulb that is growing fainter and fainter.
They begin to die, the way a tree dies–from the inside out. They go through the motions, outwardly; but inwardly something has died. They lose their passion for life, their enthusiasm for the things of God, their motivation for striving.
If you feel stuck in Job 17:11, let me give you another verse (and this is the verse for the week):
“O Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known” (Hab. 3:2).
God can revive His work in your life even “in the midst of the years.” I want to encourage you to raise your hopes again. Hope is amazingly resilient and buoyant. Have you ever tried to hold a beach ball under water? It takes tremendous energy to hold it down. Given the opportunity, it will rise to the surface. Hope is like that.
But it takes courage to raise your hopes again.
You can hold the ball under water. You can take the pain in your life and drive it down deep where you don’t have to face it. You can carefully lock it away in the recesses of your heart.
But when you drive the pain down deep, it begins to transform into something worse.
It becomes self-pity, which sucks everything in your life into the black hole of self-absorption. Or it becomes bitterness, which festers in your spirit, poisoning your heart and your relationships. Or it becomes cynicism, which hardens your heart to all that is beautiful, good and loving.
It takes courage to raise your hopes again, to face the pain and risk disappointment…again. But if you’ll “let go of the ball,” and direct your heart toward God, God can “revive” His work in your life even “in the midst of the years.”
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in your faith, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, your whole life and outlook mat be radiant with hope” (Romans 15:13, Phillips).