Do you ever get completely exhausted?
Some of the worst decisions ever made in human history were made in moments of exhaustion or depletion. When your spiritual, emotional, or physical gauges are on empty, you are in danger of doing the wrong thing every time! We weren’t designed to function on empty. In fact it’s just plain dangerous.
Unlike a car—which just ceases to function when empty of fuel, we have the ability to push beyond empty—to try to function on less than fumes. The human condition demands us to give 110%—which, though it makes for good motivational speech, is impossible. But we try. We try harder. Like lungs that have fully exhaled trying to push even more air out—we tend to “exhale” beyond our capacity in life.
And it seems to work for a while. The world doesn’t come crashing down all at once. But pushing past fumes will eventually lead to some major breakdown. As refusing to “breathe in” always eventually leads to death, so pushing past our limits always leads to a death-like life. We hurt ourselves. We hurt our families. We hurt our spouses. We hurt those we love. We hurt those we are called to serve.
So—here’s my question. Who is holding the gun to your head? Who is demanding you to exert more than you have? Who is forcing your frustrating pace? In honesty, once you push away all excuses and blame-shifting, the answer to that question is most likely YOU.
I guarantee you it isn’t God.
So breathe! Set the gun down. Step back and take the long view. If you’re exhausted, don’t make a bad decision. Your emotions are on overload. Your body is demanding rest. Your soul needs renewing. Your walk with God probably seems distant and dry. Don’t panic. Don’t listen to your emotions. Don’t do something you will one day deeply regret. And don’t feel guilty for doing what you MUST!
REST! God clearly says that renewing your strength is something you MUST do! Expect weariness. Expect exhaustion. Expect depletion. And don’t over-react to it. Just reverse the process. Pause the “expend” button and flip the switch on the “replenish” button. You do it all day already. You breath out, then you breathe in. It’s a natural process. You already know how to do this.
All too often, the “expend” button gets stuck in the “on” position. This pattern is destructive to everything that matters in our lives.
God isn’t holding a gun to your head demanding you to give more than you have. You are complete in HIM. So cast all your cares upon Him, rest in Him, and don’t think for a second that your break-neck pace and perpetual exhaustion is impressing Him or that it’s in some way gaining His favor. It actually dishonors Him.
Set the gun down, and rest. You’ll be glad you did!
Isaiah 41:1, ”…let the people renew their strength!”
