Lord, I’m Waiting: Holding On To Your Faith During A Spiritual Drought
Our faith walk is full of ups and downs. And it is no different for those whom you may think are always “on fire” for the Lord. In fact, it would appear the more someone allows the Lord to use them, and the more they speak into the lives of others the higher the risk they will encounter times of spiritual burnout.
Jesus warned His disciplines in the garden of Gethsemane, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41). He knew that, as I mentioned last week, our spirits are indeed strong, but our flesh is frail.
Often times when speaking to a group I feel so strong in the Spirit and know His power is flowing through me. (The Amplified Bible refers to this as “superhuman energy”. See Colossians 1:29) Yet the moment I finish I am so weak I collapse into the chair and feel as if I want to cry.
Sometimes our feelings of drain and exhaustion last a day, and sometimes they stretch on like the expanse of ocean from the shore.
A Really Dry Season
During one particularly dry season for me, a time of extreme burnout that lasted much longer than I ever expected, I remember every morning sitting at the kitchen table and opening my Bible to Isaiah 40:27-31.
Out loud I would read:
“Why, O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel, My way and my lot are hidden from the Lord, and my right is passed over without regard from my God?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary; there is no searching of His understanding.
29 He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound].
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted;
31 But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power;they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint orbecome tired.”
Then, with coffee in hand and eyes lifted upward I would simply say, “Okay, Lord. I’m waiting. You say you will renew my strength and restore my soul. I don’t feel a thing! But I’m waiting.”
Never be afraid to tell God how you feel. He can take it. (And He already knows anyway.)
We must make a decision to stand on what we know regardless of how we feel.
“But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].” Hebrews 11:6 (AMPC)
Trust that God is at work!
And for goodness sake, DO NOT STOP READING YOUR BIBLE! If you throw up your hands and say, what’s the use, you will be making Satan’s work very easy.
I believe the devil would just assume have us apathetic as to have us flat out rebellious any day. If we can say, why change…I’m not doing anything “bad,” then the enemy can rest assured we are not a threat to his schemes.
Stay in the Word daily. The Bible is the most direct way the Lord reveals Himself to us and speaks directly to our hearts.
Continue to dig into the Word. Know the truths you claim to base your life on. And then, in those times when you don’t feel a thing, commit to stand on what you know regardless of how you feel.
Think of icebergs and root vegetables. So much going on beneath the surface, though it looks like very little is happening up top. My friends, God is still at work in and around you. That is a promise you can stand on!
“ [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while [a]effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and[b]delight.
Do all things without grumbling and fault finding and complaining [[c]against God] and [d]questioning and doubting [among yourselves],
That you may show yourselves to be blameless and guileless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish (faultless, unrebukable) in the midst of a crooked and wicked generation [spiritually perverted and perverse], among whom you are seen as bright lights (stars or beacons shining out clearly) in the [dark] world,”Philippians 2:13-15 (AMPC)
What to study:
Be sure you don’t miss anything in this series on Spiritual Burnout.
More practical tips stirring yourself up (2 Timothy 1:6 ) coming next week. Sign up below, so you don’t miss a post!
In the meantime, slowly go back through the scriptures in this post over the next week. Trust that there is power in His word, and that it will accomplish in you what He wants it to. (Isaiah 55:11)
“And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.” Philippians 1:6 (AMPC)
