This morning, I want to ask you a question. Here it is: "Why am I so tired all the time?" Not me personally, but all of us. Because we all experience fatigue and weariness. We may know them as occasional visitors, or as constant and unwelcome companions, but every one of us has made their acquaintance. You know what I mean, that sense of being constantly tired and run-down. Feeling lethargic, lacking the energy to do the things you used to enjoy. Making excuses not to participate in family activities, because you’re just too exhausted. Sitting in front of the television for hours on end, watching shows you don’t really like, because you’re too wiped out to do anything else. Or perhaps what you experience is more a kind of physical and spiritual depletion, as if your batteries were always in need of recharging.
Now admittedly, this is a complex issue. First of all, fatigue could very well have an organic cause. For example, a virus could be the culprit. I read in the paper this week that Chris Matthews, host of the talk show, "Hardball," has been diagnosed with malaria, of all things, and is flat on his back in the hospital, complaining of complete mental and physical exhaustion. [In other words, the malaria has done to him what he’s been doing to the guests on his show.] Happily, he’s predicted to be back on his feet again soon. But fatigue can be the result of illness. It can also result from other physical causes – unhealthy diet, lack of sleep, lack of exercise. It may be related to depression or stress.
This morning, I’m not going to attempt a diagnosis of any medical conditions you may have. I’m not going to analyze your diet or your sleep habits, nor will I prescribe a six-week course of aerobic exercise. But I am going to suggest another factor for you to consider – and that’s the spiritual. You may be tired for reasons that have little to do with your physical health, and much to do with your spiritual health. Of course, if there is a medical problem, it should be treated medically. But even in those cases, there’s an interrelationship between the physical and the spiritual which the medical community is now recognizing. I’m not talking about faith healing or miracle cures. I’m talking about mainstream researchers and physicians who have documented the link between spiritual health and physical health. In other words, science is finally beginning to acknowledge what we’ve known all along, which is that human beings are not merely complex biomechanical devices. We have souls as well as bodies, and they influence one another, so that a physical symptom such as fatigue can have a physical component, a spiritual component, or both. And that’s what I’m going to address this morning – the spiritual issues that can bring on exhaustion and fatigue, and what we can do to restore our strength and vigor when fatigue overtakes us.
But before I do that, I want to talk about why this is important for us as disciples of Jesus Christ. Of course, we would all like to be brimming with life and energy; no one enjoys the feeling of being tired and lethargic. But what does it have to do with following Christ? Just this: when we are weary and exhausted, we are more susceptible to temptation, more exposed to the attacks of the enemy. We are more prone to unbelief and fear and discouragement; more likely to abandon the faith, more at risk of dishonoring ourselves and our Savior. As the great coach Vince Lombardi once said, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all." He was talking about football, but the principle is the same. When we’re tired, we don’t want to fight the good fight. We don’t want to persevere in the faith. We don’t want to stand our ground and resist temptation. Instead, we want to give up. And that’s a spiritually dangerous place to be.
We see this principle at work in the Old Testament book of Second Samuel. Absalom, the son of king David, has just staged a coup. He has deposed his father and installed himself as king. David has been forced to abandon Jerusalem and flee. And now, Absalom is seeking counsel from his advisers. Should he pursue David immediately? Or should he wait? In chapter seventeen we read this:
"Ahithophel said to Absalom, ’I would choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David. I would attack him while he is weary and weak. I would strike him with terror, and then all the people with him will flee.’" – 2 Samuel 17:1-2a
What was Ahithophel’s counsel? Attack now, while they’re tired and weak! As it turned out, Absalom did not follow this wise advice, and as a result David survived to retake the throne. But the principle behind the advice was sound. When we are tired and weary, we are more vulnerable to attack. And this is just as true in the spiritual realm as it is in the physical. As Peter warns us,
"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith." – 1 Peter 5:8
Likewise, the apostle Paul compares our life to that of a warrior. He writes,
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes." – Ephesians 6:10-11
The Christian life is a battle. We will come under attack. And if we are going to prevail, we must not allow ourselves to become weary in the struggle. We have to find ways of preventing fatigue, and dealing with it when it occurs. Let’s look, then, at some of the causes of fatigue.
First, fatigue may come from a failure to replenish our resources. Last week, I made reference to Lance Armstrong, the great American cyclist who is today, even as we speak, finishing the Tour De France, almost certainly claiming victory for the fourth consecutive year. Now, what do you think would happen if Lance skipped breakfast on race day, or just grabbed a cup of coffee and a doughnut? He wouldn’t even be able to finish, must less take first place. On every leg of this three-week race, the athletes burn an average of 6,000 calories. It is absolutely essential that they consume enough fuel to sustain that level of physical exertion. If they don’t, they will "bonk," they will simply lose the ability to continue. It’s that simple. It doesn’t matter what kind of shape they’re in, or how well they’ve trained, they can’t continue without an adequate supply of calories.
The same is true of us. From a physical perspective, we need to get adequate sleep, and exercise, and nutrition. But it’s just as important that we renew ourselves spiritually. We need to return, again and again, to the source of our power, which is God. We need to turn to Him daily in prayer, and we need to immerse ourselves in His Word, the Bible. Only then will our life and strength be continually renewed. As the Psalmist wrote,
"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither." – Psalm 1:1-3
What a beautiful image! As you may have noticed, we’ve been experiencing a drought lately, and it was quite obvious to Charlene and I as we returned from vacation this week. We drove past acre after acre after acre of corn, which by this time of year should have been five or six feet high, but which instead was perhaps two or three feet. The growth of those plants had been stunted due to a lack of rain, and they will produce little if any harvest. Likewise, we saw many dying trees. The exceptions were the trees planted along streams and rivers. Those were green and healthy, because their roots were supplied with abundant water. And that’s what this passage is teaching us. If we want to remain spiritually strong and healthy, even in times of hardship, we must continually replenish ourselves with the truth of God’s Word. Otherwise, we will wither and become unfruitful.
Christ makes the same point in John chapter 15, when he says,
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." – John 15:5
How do we remain in Christ? How do we continue to replenish ourselves spiritually from his infinite resources, as a branch receives nourishment from the vine? Through prayer. Through faith and obedience, trusting in him to supply what we need. Let me ask you this morning, are you doing this? Are you being restored spiritually by returning to the Word of God and to the Son of God, as a tree drawing nourishment from the river, or a branch drawing life from the vine? Or are you allowing yourself to become depleted, dry, withered, and weary? If so, God has just what you need, in abundance. Won’t you turn to him now, and receive what you’re lacking? He wants nothing more than to restore and nourish your soul. Listen to these promises:
"I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint." – Jeremiah 31:25
"Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint." – Isaiah 40:28-31
Second, fatigue may come from running after the wrong things. For example, instead of seeking God, many people seek after wealth and possessions. But the Scriptures warn against this. It wears you out by putting you on an endless treadmill of always wanting more and more, always working to get ahead but never being satisfied with what you have. As Solomon wrote:
"Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings like an eagle that flies toward the heavens." – Proverbs 23:4, NASB
"Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. . . . The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep." – Ecclesiastes 5:10, 12
In other words, if your goal is to become wealthy, then you will never be at rest. You will always be weary and fatigued, because you can never accumulate enough to be satisfied. And so you have to keep working to get more. Not only that, but you can’t even enjoy what you have, because you’re constantly worrying about losing it. (And as we’ve seen the past few weeks in the stock market, that’s a very rational fear!) The point is that seeking riches is not only foolish; it’s self-defeating. The very nature of a desire for wealth ensures that the desire can never be fulfilled.
If you feel this to be true of yourself, what do you do? How can you get relief from the wearying effects of greed? By replacing that desire with another one. As Jesus taught, you can’t serve both God and money. And that works both ways. If you’re seeking wealth, you can’t love or serve God. But on the other hand, if you seek after God and serve Him, that will drive the love of money out of your heart. Again, as Jesus taught,
"So do not worry, saying, ’What shall we eat?’ or ’What shall we drink?’ or ’What shall we wear?’ for the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." – Matthew 6:31-34
Third, fatigue may come from doing evil. As the prophet Jeremiah wrote, describing the conditions of his day (which are not all that different from the conditions of our day):
"Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning." – Jeremiah 9:5
One reason people are weary is that it take a lot of mental and emotional energy to maintain a lifestyle of deception. Life is fairly simple for the man or woman of integrity. He or she simply does what is right, and if asked, tells the truth about it. It’s not complicated. But for the dishonest man, life is much more difficult. First, he has to hide what he’s doing. That takes work and planning. Then he has to come up with a plausible cover story, and remember it the same way every time he tells it, indefinitely. Not only that, but after the deed is done, he is in constant fear of being found out! It’s very tiring. That’s why criminals sometimes express a sense of relief when they are finally caught.
It’s not that they are looking forward to prison. But they are glad not to have to sustain the lie any longer. They don’t have to hide what they did any more.
I don’t expect we have any criminals here this morning. But anyone who has ever lied to a husband or wife, or who has deceived a boss or a customer, knows what I’m talking about. Doing wrong is tiring. It robs us of our peace. It gnaws at us. As David wrote, concerning his sin with Bathsheba:
"When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, ’I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’ – and you forgave the guilt of my sin."
– Psalm 32:5
Sin wearies us. Not only does it take a great deal of energy to cover up our sin, but carrying around the guilt of our misdeeds can be exhausting. Perhaps there’s a sin that you’re covering up right now; one that you haven’t confessed even to God. If that’s the case, then I urge you to come clean. Pray right now and confess that sin to God. And if it involves another person, then go to them and confess it to them also. Only then will you find relief from the burden of your guilt.
Fourth, and finally, fatigue comes from trying to make it through this world on our own power. Relying on ourselves, trusting in ourselves, depending upon our own skill and knowledge and ability to get through the day. And that’s tiring, because we weren’t made for that. We weren’t designed for that kind of self-sufficiency. We were designed to rely on the Lord, to trust in Him for our protection and provision. When we forget that basic fact, we can find the weight of life to be almost unbearably heavy. What then should we do? Listen to the invitation and promise of Christ:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." – Matthew 11:28-30
Are you weary this morning? Are you tired? Then come to Christ. Place your trust in Him. Cast your burdens upon him. Give up your pride, your self-sufficiency, your stubborn insistence on going it alone, and turn to Him. You have nothing to lose but those crushing burdens you’ve been carrying around for so long. What have they ever done for you? Give them up. Give them to Christ. You’re not strong enough to bear them, but he is. Won’t you turn to him? Receive the rest that he offers, even now.
Fellow believers in Christ, I’m speaking to you as well. What a terrible burden it is to try to live the Christian life in your own power. It doesn’t work very well, does it? Won’t you turn to Christ this morning? And what a burden it is to maintain the appearance of having it all together. How tiring it is to keep up that façade of perfection. Why not just let it go? Admit that you struggle, and fail, and need forgiveness, just like everyone else. Receive the rest that Christ offers you, even now.
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)
