FATIGUE

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

I was chatting with someone in between sessions this week who commented that they were just kind of “tired” of the whole recovery thing; too many meetings, too many appointments, the same old questions, worse yet the same old faces. They said they were just “fatigued” with the whole thing. Step this, step that, amends here, amends there. Another inventory sheet, really? Dare I say it; they were a little burned out with the whole “getting better” routine.

Sounds a little weird right? But it is not unusual. Yet it does raise a red flag.

Yet we must be careful when we start talking and thinking like that. All of us from time to time have and will experience physical "burnout" - those times when we are tired from our many activities or difficulties that assail us.

However, recovery burnout or worse yet, SPIRITUAL burnout is a different and quite dangerous dilemma. When we find ourselves becoming fatigued or feeling spiritually burned out, tired of our advancement, we need to take a step back, reset and re-evaluate.  For the truth is, we CAN become weary from the PERCEIVED pressure of trying to obey God, meet ALL of the expectations, serve, do whatever steps we are doing, manage the endless stream of temptation, while at the same time hopefully committing NEW time to the LORD.

But remember my friends, we ARE NOT called to “DO” Christianity, rather we are CALLED to “LIVE and EXPERIENCE” it and those are two vastly DIFFERENT things.

When we start to experience spiritual fatigue, it should alert us that we are on the wrong path.  When we find ourselves burdened by mental checklists of “dos and don'ts”, striving to please God with our activities and "church-stuff" we are likely relying on THE WRONG STRENGTH and that is why we are tired.

Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle…

(Romans 8 (MSG)

And that is not real freedom.

That is why it is imperative to “keep reading” from Romans 8 and discover…

…(BUT) Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life.

Remember, it is NOT ABOUT YOU and WHAT YOU DO! It is ABOUT the LORD. 

The fatigue is likely the sign we need to “rest a minute” and hand the “doing” back over to the LORD.

So if you are like my friend and are experiencing a measure of breathlessness from spiritual fatigue this morning, REST for a second and…

Think of God's power like a river coursing through hilly terrain. We can hike, puffing and sweating, along the footpath, or we can just ease into the water. We won't have to expend any more energy because the power of the current will carry us all the way to our destination.

Have a blessed weekend...

I love you all!

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE