Walking Through Weariness

Many people view the Christian faith through the lens of an emotional experience. They make a decision to follow Jesus at a powerful worship service or at the end of a week of Christian camp. This is common and certainly our emotions play a part in our spiritual lives. But what happens when we are weary? How do we move forward in our faith when the feelings fade? Personally, I have experienced multiple seasons of dryness in my spiritual life. As a minister I am expected to still teach, preach and lead through those times. Here are a few things that help me.
One, remember that Christianity is a world view, articulated by the written word of God, the collection of books we call the Bible. Whether I feel close to God or feel anything at all does not affect the truth of the Scripture. The Scripture is true regardless of how we feel about it. I do not have to feel emotional about gravity, that force is simply something that exists and is true. The Christian world view is reality articulated. Truth revealed.
Second, build margin in our lives. When we are rushed and running on empty the weariness goes up. The little moments that make the Christian life meaningful so often come out of a life with appropriate margins. In the famous parable of the good Samaritan two religious Jews refuse to stop and help a man who was robbed, beaten and left for dead. Jesus does not explain why the men do not stop and help and yet it is easy to imagine that at least one reason is because they were too busy. There was not time to stop and lean in with love.
Third, when facing spiritual weariness, elevate the value of faithfulness. In the well known list of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, I feel like love, joy and peace hog the spotlight. But the older I get and the more dry seasons I weather, I have come to intensely value faithfulness. Keep showing up at the prayer meeting. Read Scripture on the days you are inspired and the days you are bored. Love that difficult person at your workplace in one more simple, creative way. I think it is interesting that one of the promises of Scripture is that if we are consistent in life, at the judgment we will hear from God “well done good and faithful servant.” Not loving servant, not peaceful servant but faithful servant. Years ago I read a quote from John Maxwell who said, “at your death people will sum up your life in one sentence, write it now.” I have thought about that quote a lot. My sentence changes, but somewhere in it is the word faithful. I want to be a consistent, faithful apprentice of Jesus Christ. Whatever talent I possess, or position I hold is far less important than whether or not I am faithful.
Fourth, is to worship. In a narcistic culture it is important to get our eyes off of ourselves and on God. Focusing exclusively on ourselves means that our view is dominated by flaws and brokenness with only dashes of delightful beauty. But if we lift our eyes in worship we can be captivated by the glory of God all over again. When I look at creation, I shake my head at the complex engineering that points to the brilliance of God. When we pause to savor a sunset or a rainbow we worship the great artist who paints the vibrant colors of fall. Most of us become weary when we try to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. Worship reminds us that God is sovereign, not us. Worship lifts our eyes and lightens our hearts. It turns our focus from the crushing moments of life to the celebration of the life Giver, God Himself. Jesus invites the “weary and heavy laden” into his rest. Sounds pretty good to me.

Pastor Derek Dickinson
Journey Christian Church