No Time Limit

As I was sitting at the kitchen table in memaw's(my mother lol) house this week the Lord quietly spoke the title to this message. No time limit.

3 "A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.
Isaiah 42:3 (NASB)

I was in the midst of dealing with 'something' this week and I found myself numbed to the situation. Have you ever found yourself that way? You know..you've dealt with something for so long that you have become numb to it's effect. At first you used to freak out and go nuts looking for a solution; but, now you have dealt with it for so long that you have become numb and without feeling towards whatever you are battling against. As a matter of fact you have begun to accept that this situation is now the norm and you have 'given up'(?) that it might ever change. You have lost your compassion. Ever feel like that or is it just me?(smile) Well, I felt that very way this past week. Yep sure did. I said in my heart "the heck with it, I'm done. It ain't(bad english lol) NEVER gonna change! My anger and frustration were such that I didn't have any words. I didn't WANT to have any words. I just wanted to be through with it. Over, done, KAPUT!! Can I get an Amen??!! That's when the Lord, in His way,(you know how He does things sometimes) put the above scripture in front of my eyes.

As I read the above verse the Lord reminded me of the COUNTLESS times that He had shown me, yours truly, mercy and compassion. You see when other people screw up and miss the mark we sometimes give them a big dose of "I told you so" or worse we give up on them. No, we don't stop loving them,we just give up fighting in the spirit for them. Our spirit wants to give up the fight.  We lose our compassion. You gettin'my drift? Our heart becomes numb to the situation. Trust me,I know. The Lord gave me a simple illustration this week. It was of a tree limb that had been half broken off. A'bruised reed' if you will. You know, you've seen them before, a small limb that has been cracked and it's just hanging there. I was reminded of some tree tape that they sell at Home Depot and Loew's. You wrap it around the the broken limb and graft it back into the bigger limb and over time the damaged limb will heal and grow back into the bigger limb. But, if you just leave the broken limb alone it will die. Understand, you don't have to break the limb off to kill it. You just have to NEGLECT it. Instead of binding it up with the tape and feeding it with fertilizer,you just give up on it and let it hang there. Eventually, it dies from neglect and starvation. That's probably very simplistic, but that is the picture I got this week. We don't have to get mad and frustrated with people to hurt them. We don't have to turn our back on them to wound them spiritually.We just have to give up on them. To become numb and indifferent toward their struggle. That's when the Lord spoke those words to me. Ronnie, there's no time limit on compassion and mercy. Thank God for that! If there were, I would have hit the bottom of the barrel long, long ago!!

 1  Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.
Gal 6:1 (NASB)

That word "restore" is as Bugs Bunny or was it Elmer Fudd(?) would say"verry inte-resting." It means "to mend, or to furnish completely" I have heard it put this way. It means to help someone"all the way out." " ... in a spirit of gentleness..." You know something? You can tell someone the truth without verbally beating them up. Most, if not all people know when they have missed it. I know that I have always known. Amen? What people need is to be told a way out. A word of encouragement.  Is it more important to be right or to be reconciled? And here is our grammar lesson for today. In the verse restore is written in what they call the "continuous present" tense. It means the restoration is ongoing. It doesn't have a set time for conclusion. Amen?

You know it may all get very frustrating at times. No, it DOES get frustrating at times. Even to the point of numbness and discouragement.I can vouch for that.You want to quit fighting and quit believing. Amen? You just don't want to deal with it any longer. That's a good time to get alone with God and remind yourself(or allow Him to remind you) of how many times He has been merciful and compassionate towards you and yours.Allow Him to minister to you and recharge your batteries. The battle is always there. There's no time limit.

1  Hear my cry, O God; Give heed to my prayer. 2 From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
Psalms 61:1-2 (NASB)


God Bless