Do you ever feel like you are worn out? Do you ever feel as though you are on your last leg?

     I know we all feel this way sometimes, but I really have to believe that most of the time, we can do something about it.  I think there are some lessons that can be learned about how and why we feel like we are wearing thin.  As much as anything else, I believe that we affect our own perception reality by training our eyes on things that are either causing us to be stagnant or causing us to grow. 

      Much like the plant in the picture above, we sometimes feel like there is so little life left in us.  We look around and all we can see is the deadness of years gone by.  Maybe those times were good, and maybe they were bad, but the fact is, the majority of what populates our lives is made up of bones of yesterday. 
The more we look, the more depressed we get.  We try to grow, but we cannot find a way out of the tangled mess that has covered our path.  Each step is navigated through a web of potential failure.  A decision to move here, date her, love him, or work there inspires doubt about our ability to make decisions that could possibly have a positive effect on our lives.  Our future seems to have already been written, and the outlook is as dismal as our past. 
      Some of us may even try to make cosmetic changes in our lives in order to convince ourselves that we are not actually doomed.  We write ourselves encouraging messages that are intended to inspire life, but all they really do is shed light on the darkness of our heart.  We surround ourselves with things that are, “Supposed to be true about a Christian,” but fail to realize anything promised in their words. 
We make great efforts to:
Live
Laugh Often
Love
Hope
Dream
or Believe
…but all we seem to be doing is saying words. 

So, how do we actually change the way we are living?

     First, we must recognize that the things written on the walls of our house are not alive.  We don’t live in the past, and we don’t live in the present.  We live in the eternal nature that has been given to us by our creator.  The carcasses of our past are of no real significance when we recognize that the body of the Christ will not be found among them.  We will not find the bones of Jesus because he was the first to be raised.  Our resurrection may still lie in the future, but it is confirmed in His. 
      So the process of gathering our past, both good and bad memories, and removing them from our daily experience becomes a task that is empowered by the Living God that we serve.

      Identifying our past, removing those corpses from our lives, and letting the tangled web of doubt and fear slip away from our lives can be a hard process, but it will reveal the true nature of our condition.  For most of us, we will survey the landscape that is left after our lives have been detangled, we will probably find that much of our former soil has been taken away as well.  These gaping holes may seem daunting and may seem like problems until we realize that we are not the ones that have to fill them. 
       Though we have to make ourselves available for the Master Gardner to restore our lives, it is not the creation that must bear the weight of restoration, but the creator who is able to redeem that which was lost.  
For many of us, our foundation must be restored.  Not the whitewashed walls of the current vessel in which we reside, but the actual foundation of our existence.  We need the Holy Spirit to engage our hearts once again so that our next step can land on a path toward hope, instead of doubt. 

     We may even feel little lonely in the middle of this freshly cleared landscape, but the fact of the matter is, we are finally able to breathe.  Our lives are no longer being sucked dry by past mistakes.  We look out toward the future with hope and resolve in the idea that we are not clean because of what we have done, but because of the assurance that is offered in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

     We must also be reintroduced to the filling of the Holy Spirit who gives us daily sustenance through the water of the Word.  Not only does the Holy Spirit restore us, but also empowers us.  He offers us the ability to be rejuvenated daily.  Each day that we accept his provision is a day in which we can grow.  Each day of growth opens the door for us to accomplish the primary responsibility of every believer.  We approach the day in which we bear fruit.  Not just the fruit of the gospel, but also the fruit of the Spirit.  We are given the ability to Loving, Joyful, Peaceful, Patient, Kind, Good, Gentle, Faithful, and Self-Controlled. 
       Now all we need is the constant light of the Father.  Probably the greatest insight that we can derive from this element of growth is this, the light is the one thing over which we have no influence.  We can only stand in its presence.  It rises when it chooses, and it sets according to its pattern.  But don’t forget, the plant with shallow roots, or a field that isn’t watered regularly will wither in the sun.  The plant that hopes to thrive in the sun is the one whose roots are both grounded, and watered.  Without rich soil, and plentiful water, any plant will perceive the rays of the sun to be oppressive and harsh, but when a tree is planted near a flowing river, the sun’s beams become a blessing.

       When we grow upon the foundation of our faith in Jesus Christ, the daily provision of the Holy Spirit, and bathe in the light of the Father, we will realize a far more fruitful existence; an existence that is known by the evidence of life, not what we write on our walls.