Why Bother?

 

I'm having a cranky day when I'm wondering why I bother to:

• Write what few people read
• Clean when it gets messed up again
• Buy things that are broken right away
• Be kind when I don't get kindness in return
• Teach my kids when the lessons seem quickly forgotten
• Work toward my goals when almost no one cares what I do

I'm sick and tired, thus I am vulnerable. At these times, I hear the voice of my enemy saying, "Why bother?" He knows well how I depend on encouragement from others. When it isn't there, he knows how to turn my funk into a fiasco. When he is done talking, I want to go back to bed and forsake writing, homemaking, kindness, parenting, and working forever.

But the same question that I asked myself I have to ask my enemy. Why bother? If I were an insignificant woman, why would you spend your time and energy trying to talk me into giving up? Jesus breaks into the discussion.

“Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’" - Matthew 4:10

We bother because we are serving the Lord. He reads every word we write and He sees us cleaning, returning kindness for evil, teaching the resistant learner, and achieving His purposes for us. He likes it all.

So why do we bother listening to any voice but His?