Good Morning!
Today as we turn to this week's worship and prayer help I want to talk about a subject that we might not want to admit to needing help with, and that is spiritual exhaustion.
We've kind of led ourselves to believe that Christians can't, or at least shouldn't, get to a point in their life with Christ that they feel inwardly tired and at the end of our godly rope. However, the reality if we will be honest with ourselves is usually far closer to that than the happy clappy, always joyful person we think we should be.
Life is hard. Sin is weighty, and sinners are tiresome. It is not a sign of spiritual weakness to feel the weight of dealing with all of this. In fact, sometimes the Lord uses this for our advantage. When we feel broken down and as if we could not handle any more what do you think God is trying to tell us? That maybe we haven't been leaning on Him as we should, but even if that is not the case what is it that we all need to remember? David as he was wrestling in his own sin in Psalm 51 had this to say, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise." When we read that how is that helpful for a soul which is brought low by the things of this world? Notice what the Psalmist says, "...a broken and a contrite heart....You will not despise." We see here a reminder that when we've been utterly laid waste the LORD knows our pain, He knows our weakness, and He does not hate us for it. God is not a "stiff upper lip" kind of deity. He is a tender and loving Father who is moved with compassion and grace at the falling down of His people.
If you are going through something right now which seemingly has no end, has drained you of every fiber of mercy and peace, and you know not what to do remember this truth. The Lord has seen your plight. He knows your struggles and He has provided through the Holy Spirit a great and wonderful comforter that you can call out to for strength, renewal, and satisfaction. His well of grace is never empty.
We'll close this with the words of the Apostle Paul as he wrote to the Corinthian believers about the blessings Christ and His gospel and how they are the perfect place to run to in times like these:
"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh."
For today's brief reading I commend this article from Archie Parrish on helpful ways to avoid burnout.
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/avoiding-burnout/
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church