Spiritual Weariness

I'm on vacation ... a week away from the pressures of work and the daily grind of life. This break came at a good time, at a point when I felt like weariness might have otherwise swamped me. I'm sure you've been there. Who hasn't? Getting away from it all certainly helps to give us a fresh perspective and to refuel us for the journey ahead.

But what is the best prescription when our weariness is spiritual? What if our frustration is not simply from the stresses of a job, but with a God who seems absent or at least asleep at the switch? My father once wrote that such spiritual weariness "is epidemic among us today. It's easy to grow weary of a God whose only claim to divinity is what he did back in the hazy past. It's like dozing off while listening to the reminiscing of a once-great person, all of whose excitement and accomplishments in life lie in days gone by. That kind of god becomes dull and old-hat, lacking in power and relevance for the now of our lives. Consequently, our church-going, our praying, our Bible reading, and even our Christian service becomes obligation, dull routine. Finally, it may even fade away entirely."

"People lament. They say, 'What has happened to the Church? It has lost its power, its zest.' The answer is that the Church -- you and I (for the Church is not something other than you and I) -- the Church is looking for God in the past rather than in the present. It is not enough to study the Bible to find out what God did back then. It is not enough to recall what God did in years past in any congregation. Isaiah says, 'Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.' Now he didn't meant that it was wrong to go back to those things. He certainly did enough of that himself in his prophecies. But we go back to what God did then in order to get a handle on the present, to be able to discern what God is doing now, not to live back there. We are failing to ask, 'What is God doing among us now?'"

"What is God doing in my life, my job, my family, my marriage? What is God doing in my church? What is God doing in the world? These are important questions. The Biblical promise is: 'Ask and ye shall receive.' It is absolutely certain that if you ask these questions in faith, really wanting to know, you will be overwhelmed. Your life, your church, the world around you will dance, alive with the Spirit of God. You cannot grow weary of a God like that."

"I recently heard of a pastor who begins each meeting of the congregation's governing Board by asking the members a question: 'Where have you seen God at work -- at work anywhere -- since the last time we met?' The answers bring a sense of excitement and thrill to the meeting and to the church itself. These people are training themselves to look for God's activity, and they are finding God every day, in their families, in their neighborhoods, in their church, even in the news headlines. It is a search that never goes unrewarded."

"God is alive and moving right now. The more you sensitize yourself to this, the more you realize that the earth is crammed with heaven, and no situation, no matter how terrible, is outside the redeeming activity of God. The Bible is not God's prison, and heaven is not just our retreat where we go in the sweet by-and-by when the world is finished using and abusing us. 'Behold, he is doing a new thing right now. Do you not perceive it?'" 

So now I have some questions to ponder as a paddle my kayak across the lake: What new thing is this God doing in my life, my family, my marriage, my workplace, my church, my world? I'm guessing that the answers to questions like these could be as energizing as any vacation.

From:"Weary of God"

Scripture: Isaiah 43:14-25