Spiritual Exhaustion

Spiritual exhaustion comes not because the need before us has become greater or overwhelming, but because the servant has become spiritually empty.  The emptiness is not the result of some great or long lasting effort.  It is because of the spiritual principle that what is spilling out must not be greater than what is flowing in.  Too many times we become so busy doing what we perceive Christ wanting us to do that we forget about the need to be with Christ.  A servant of Christ who seeks to serve Him will run dry and become weary with exhaustion without frequent moments of standing or kneeling in the presence of the Christ being served.    

Many a person has become so exhausted and worn out that quitting is the only option without accepting the reality that what has changed is the level of dependency upon the Spirit.  If we depend on ourselves, and such is a subtle temptation for every servant, we will soon run dry of spiritual power.  The spiritual anointing which sent us out will seem like an illusion instead of a signal of God's commissioning us for mission.  There are times when our efforts have no energy because we have become like the marathon runner who races past the water stations confident that the enthusiasm of the beginning will be enough to reach the finish line.    

Isaiah understood this spiritual dynamic as he wrote those often quoted words, "...those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."  (Isaiah 40:31).  Many a mission has failed because the one sent by God came to the faulty conclusion that it could not succeed apart from his or her presence and effort.  Human effort alone is not enough to keep the servant of Christ in the race.  "Waiting on the Lord..." is the key to successful and faithful Kingdom work.  When we step out of the stream of the Spirit's power, we shall surely become too exhausted to finish.  Keeping our feet and spirit wet with that holy water and its power will always enable us to serve even after the enthusiasm of the beginning has cooled.