Weary Workers
February 13, 2022 Morning Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: We can become weary when we misplace our motivation.
Focus Passage: Galatians 6:9-10
Introduction: POTATO, EGG, OR COFFEE?
Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.
After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. "Daughter, what do you see?"
"Potatoes, eggs, and coffee," she hastily replied.
"Look closer", he said, "and touch the potatoes." She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
"Father, what does this mean?" she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity - the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard. However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
"Which are you?" he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?"
In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us.
[https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/11699/hardship-by-mike-leiter]
I. Growing Weary
a. Get our focus off of Jesus and on our selves, situation, circumstances, etc
b. Do things out of our own power, rather than relying on God’s power
c. Feel unappreciated or ignored
II. Giving Up
a. too much change; not the kind of change that we want or expect
b. get frustrated with lack of results
c. rather just quit than double-down
III. Gathering Strength
a. We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who leads us and makes our faith complete. He endured the shame of being nailed to a cross, because he knew that later on he would be glad he did. Now he is seated at the right side of God's throne! (Hebrews 12:2 CEV)
b. So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. (1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT)
c. Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. (Colossians 3:23 NLT)
d. Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. (Galatians 1:10 NLT)
Application/Call to Obedience: Are you tired? Are you ready to give up? Then listen now to the Word of the Lord: "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30 NASB) My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalms 73:26 NASB) in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. (Ephesians 6:16 NASB) If you’ve never trusted Jesus, you’ll never know true peace or rest. The Bible says “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10 NASB)
