Weariness threatens our spiritual
well-being because when you’re worn
out— physically, mentally, or emotionally— you’re more easily taken out. In fact, I believe this is one of the enemy’s
greatest deceptions in our post-modern world, a world where ‘busyness’ rules as
the order of the day. The pace, the
pace, the pace at which we live, the
unbalanced rush of one event after another, day after day, year after year,
does an enormous amount of damage to our hearts. And to our ability to discern the Truth from
the Lie, reality from rhetoric, to navigate the wild winds and waters of
relationships, to love people well, generously and graciously. You may laugh and shake your head and go on
about your business after reading this, and that’s certainly your right, but
one of the most profound hindrances
to intimacy with Jesus today is a lack of
sleep. Yeah, you read that right: a
lack of sleep, a worn out body and a weary soul.
The very fact that some of you are
dismissing what I just said shows just how deeply
this Lie is embedded in our succeed-at-all-costs culture {even at the expense
of our health, our family, and quite possibly our sanity!}. The enemy has gained great ground with this
generation of believers by a simple premise: “Keep ‘em runnin’. Keep ‘em on the move, on the go, a non-stop
barrage of entertaining options, hyper-stimulus, and media messaging. I’ll wear ‘em out ...and then I’ll take ‘em
out.” Because he knows, he knows too well, that when you’re weary in body and soul
and unwilling to turn to Jesus for
desperately needed rest, you are easy pickings, my friend. It’s almost laughable how easy.
Disappointment so easily becomes despair, worry flows into fear, discontentment blossoms into outrage at how Abba could ever allow
this to happen to me!, and
unhappiness threatens to become full-blown depression. You tracking here? And for some reason, maybe the same root of
arrogance which keeps us blind to all the other ways we fail to “guard our hearts,” we don’t seem to be
able to recognize, or maybe we just don’t want
to, the deadly debilitation of these subtle saboteurs. Long
term exposure equals spiritual enervation, a weakness wearing down our
resistance, a draining of divine
energy and vitality, the Resurrection Life of our Lord ebbing away, only to be
replaced by ...nothing.
The solution beforehand {before subtlety becomes sin} is simple, so simple you may be tempted to overlook it. Don’t.
The solution is to ‘stand and fight,’ to reclaim whatever ground is lost
to the enemy, by calling on the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ as your
own. By praying in the forgiveness of
the Cross, the Life and Power of the Resurrection, and the authority of the
Ascension. The solution afterwards {after
these enemies have had their way with us} is also simple: to repent.
To take this a step beyond
confession and ask the Spirit of God to literally change our immediate outlook, fill us with His fruit, and humble us
before the Master’s Throne if necessary.
Anything to break the grip of
spiritual malaise, anything to
restore energy and vitality!
In the words of the wisest king yet to
sit on the throne of Israel, “Above all
else, guard your heart, for it is the Wellspring of Life,”
meaning watch over it “with all diligence,
for from it flow the Springs of Life” {Prov. 4:23 NAS}. Because if you won’t fight for the health of your own heart, if you won’t
fight for the Freedom and Life which are your birthrights as Sons
and Daughters of God... who will?
Ric Webb
Shepherd
Heart's Journey Community
www.hjcommunity.org
Ric Webb
Shepherd
Heart's Journey Community
www.hjcommunity.org
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