Everyone gets tired.
This is the plight of all men, that we toil and strive and become worn out. In this day and age this is often a mental form of exhaustion which stems from hours at work, difficulties with customers and coworkers, making plans, and cooperating with people to execute the plans. We can be worn out from working people up, being let down, standing up for what needs to be said, or jumping through hoops to meet deadlines, goals and expectations. As if the job isn’t enough, coming home can have similar difficulties in managing the household with spouse, children, and pets. Being exhausted after dealing with all of this makes sense. But if we look to overcome each difficulty by attempting to obtain less difficulty we will be only more tired and frustrated with our inability to create our perfect environment.
Are we fed?
Read 1 Sam 14.24–46.
We know we need nourishment as fuel for our daily battles. Immediately before Saul was rejected by Yahweh (God’s actual name), he was engaged in conquest. He was so hungry for conquest that he swore a hasty oath that nobody eat, upon pain of death, until he had avenged himself of his enemies. Johnathan, his son had not heard his father's decree and while everyone else remained exhausted he was revitalized and went on to win a seemingly unlikely victory. When informed by another about Saul’s oath concerning eating he said,
“My father has troubled the land. See now, how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. “How much more, if only the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found! For now the slaughter among the Philistines has not been great.”
1 Sam 14.29–30
Any person who claims to be a Christian is by default a soldier for Christ. What kind of soldier are you? Do you desire to serve your King well? If so, you must prioritize your nourishment. Johnathan was fighting a physical war, but our warfare is spiritual (Eph 6.10-20). This brings up the question of how we can be spiritually nourished, mentally revitalized, sustained for our daily battles?
Be sustained by the Word.
Read John 6:26–40.
We know that man does not live on bread alone, but we live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt 4.4). So, it should be no surprise to use that a main source of spiritual nourishment is the Scripture. It is part of our necessary Spiritual diet, and if we are deficient in our intake of it then we will no doubt be exhausted eventually. But why? The wisest man who ever lived before Christ (Solomon), tells us to trust God with our whole heart (meaning our mind) and not to lean on our own understanding (Prov 3.5). When we are not saturated with Scripture, we tend to find our own way and do what is right in our own eyes. Working to find those solutions is exhausting. If we are constantly thinking about His Word, we will be nourished like a tree next to a river and will be fruitful (Psa 1.1–3). By contrast the wicked are like chaff in the wind (Psa 1.4–6). Sometimes we become exhausted because we think we are self-sufficient and can figure it out for ourselves. But God has it already figured out in His word, and we don’t have to spin your wheels trying to reinvent them.
Be renewed by the work.
Read John 4.32–34.
You might say, “well I read the scripture every day but still I find myself exhausted.” Does that mean that the Scriptures’ promise of renewal has failed? May it never be! The study of the Scripture is not a mere mental exercise, but is preparation for action. When the disciples returned with the food that they were sent off to retrieve they were confused by the response of their teacher.
“I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.”
John 4.34
If we are merely hearing and not doing, then we haven’t heard well (Jam 1.22–25). If we are not about the work of God, then we are starving of Spiritual nourishment. Jesus’s ministry started and finished with the gospel. We, as opposed to Christ, are not the good news, but we should be announcing it to who we run into regardless of the timing (2 Tim 4.2). We should be exhorting each other to good works, sharing the truth of Scripture with believer and unbeliever alike. Jesus was “gospel-izing” the Samaritan woman at the well and this is the food some do not know. Do you know? Jesus taught that a servant is like his master so this begs the question, are you…like Him? Are you nourished by doing the Father’s will?
Avoid vain striving: the act and the attitude.
Act. Since all mankind is made in the image of God, we are purposed to glorify him. This is the other side of being renewed by the work. The Scripture teaches that anything done apart from faith is sin, and that without faith it is impossible to please God (Rom 4.23; Heb 11.6). When we are not acting in faith we are not fulfilling our obligation (Ecc 12.13) and ultimately we are striving, in that moment, against God. The apostle Paul gives the solution of not becoming distracted by the affairs of this world, but working to please God (2 Tim 2.4). So what does that look like on an everyday basis?
Attitude. While we see that Scripture teaches us to do all our work as if it is for God Himself, we are fooling ourselves if we think it honors Him to do so with the wrong motive. Scripture makes it clear that if we are not obeying him, then our sacrifices are meaningless (Psa 51.17). Moreover, working for God, who evaluates the heart to know what we are thinking, means that pride makes our sacrifice worthless. But a contrite heart, He will not despise (Psa 51.8).
To be clear there is a difference between knowing with certainty that we are given, by God, skill for a task (that translates to appropriate confidence), and pride…which is an ungodly source of motivation for doing a task. When we work for God in all we do, with humility, then we are not upset when we don’t get credit, or if the person for whom we were working with/for doesn’t like the job done. We know that we did it as an act of worship, and the criticism we receive will only inform us regarding how to approach it going forward. If we want to check our motives behind work, then just imagine nobody else will appreciate it. If that bothers you then check your mindset. It’s likely wrong. Whatever you do, do it all for the Glory of God (1 Cor 10.31).
A perspective co-authored by…
Pastoral Intern, B.A. Applied Linguistics, MDiv from The Master’s Seminary Class of 2022