Vision: Energize To Engage

In other words, we can do what God has called us to do and to accomplish because of our faith in Christ who gives us the strength.

So don’t let your age (young or old), your gender (male or female), or your race (Jew or Gentile), keep you from fully following after God’s promises for you.

Just as a further note, I remembered the Wedding Feast where Jesus turned water into wine. But not just any wine, but the best wine the master of the feast had ever tasted. Listen to his words, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” (John 2:10 NKJV)

Now, you might be wondering how any of does this fits with what we’ve been talking about? Well, the answer is this, “God is saving the best for last.” That was Caleb’s testimony. “Hey, I’m even better now at 85 than I was at 40.”

Therefore, if you think that God is finished with you, understand, He’s saving the best for last. So, let’s buckle up and expect God to do great things in us and through us.

What keeps us going, what energizes us?

Physically: Rest – Work – Ministry

Now, the idea of rest we’ll explore later. But for now, what we find in the Scriptures and medical science is that rest, not sleep alone, but rest, like when we “rest in the Lord,” revitalizes, rejuvenates, and restores.

As it involves work and ministry, Paul uses himself as an example, and one that is available to all of us. In other words, it’s within the capacity God has given, with the understanding that every Christian can grow and expand their capacity for productive labor, so that they can have a productive life.

Colossians 1:28–29: “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.”

1 Corinthians 15:10: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”

Please note, it isn’t in our own power and strength, but it is through the grace of God working in and through us that allows us to thrive and be successful, no matter how young or old we may be.

Now, Jesus knows what it’s like when we get press up against the limits of these flesh and blood bodies, and the bounds placed upon us through our finite existence in a dying world. He knows what it’s like to have limited capacity, and limited time, and at the end the day with unfinished tasks. He knows what it’s like to be wearied physically (John 4:6) and what it’s like to need and carve out time for rest (Mark 6:31). And He also knows what it’s like to have work yet to accomplish (John 4:34; 5:36; 17:4).

And when we look at His life here on earth, He had energy enough to work almost tirelessly, even on the Sabbath, when He encountered those in need (Luke 13:14–17; John 5:16–17; Mark 2:27–28). And through what He did, His works, He not only bore witness to his Father (John 5:36; 9:3–5), but He also presented Himself as the giver and focus of our faith (John 10:37–38; 14:10–11).