Here is a truth that you and I know very well. YESTERDAY’S spiritual passion cannot be TODAY’S spiritual energy. Gordon MacDonald writes, “Passion quickly dissipates; it must be restored. Like the manna God gave the Israelites in the desert, spiritual passion spoils quickly. As Moses and his people had to collect manna daily, so must we restore spiritual passion regularly. We would be wise to know how it so quickly disappears and what we can do when that happens.” (Restoring Your Spiritual Passion). This episode addresses the question, “How should Christ-followers deal with those days when we are unmotivated, down, discouraged, and our spiritual energy gone?”
In the deep jungles of Africa, a traveler was making a long trek. Coolies had been engaged from a tribe to carry the loads. The first day they marched rapidly and went far. The traveler had high hopes of a speedy journey. But the second morning these jungle tribesman refused to move. For some strange reason, they just sat and rested. On inquiry as to the reason for this strange behavior, the traveler was informed that they had gone too fast the first day, and that they were NOW waiting for their SOULS to catch up with their BODIES.”
How are we to function while we wait for the heart passion from our souls to catch up with the next day’s activities that we have to step into? This subject is crucial because we want to be motivated by our allegiance to Jesus, always. Only that desire to please him can keep us from falling into the destructive path of sin. But the reality of life is that ALL PASSIONS WANE. Let’s look into Scripture to observe 4 experiences of life that drain our spiritual passion and what we might learn that can help us push through dry, discouraging times in our walk with Christ.
LIFE EXPERIENCE #1: EMOTIONAL DEPLETION
This experience is both a routine part of life and the result of going through intense emotional experiences—even though those experiences might be spiritual highs. I don’t know what the etymology is of the phrase mountaintop experience, but certainly the prophet Elijah’s showdown with the prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel fits that description. It was the culmination of 3.5 years of intense prayer for the nation of Israel to repent from its idolatrous worship of Baal so that God would remove the curse of the drought in the land. After Baal is unmasked as a false God who could not send fire to consume the sacrifice, the fire of Yahweh fell. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “Yahweh, he is God; Yahweh, he is God.” And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there (1 Kings 18:38-40).
Elijah had to pray intensely for the rain to fall—seven times. Then he ran 18 miles to Jezreel. Elijah was as spiritually, emotionally, and physically spent as any man could be, but God’s supernatural actions had caused the revival of Israel to begin with the false prophets being slain and the people’s hearts turning back to Yahweh. King Ahab had seen God reveal himself as the true God, heard the people voice their allegiance to Yahweh, and stood by watching Elijah slaughter the false prophets. It was a total spiritual victory—except that it wasn’t. Queen Jezebel’s heart had been moved but not in repentance but to greater hatred of Elijah, whom she vowed to execute within 24 hours. With zero spiritual, emotional, or physical strength to do otherwise, Elijah runs for his life. He travels to Beersheba outside Jezebel’s kingdom, goes into the desert, and pleads with God, “take my life.”
“Elijah was simply drained. He had given out everything on the mountaintop; nothing was left…Individuals in a drained condition feel caught up in a sea of feelings that often runs counter to all the facts. There are strong senses of self-doubt and negativism. The mind seeks out all the possible minor and major errors that might have been made in the past hours, and then it amplifies them until all positive contributions are merely blotted out. Drained people become super critical of self and, of course, of others. They are convinced they have made fools of themselves, that nothing done or said will be remembered or implemented” (Ibid).
Emotional Depletion Happens: Application Principles
#1. Beware that when our emotional tank is on, empty, the pull towards something that feels good intensifies. Pastors watch porn on Sunday nights more than any other time because they are emotionally depleted by their ministry Sunday. I think God shaped our emotional tanks to be refilled through things we ENJOY—things that bring the good feeling of pleasure. But it must be lawful.
#2. Put three habits in place to keep our hearts emotionally renewed.
- Find joy in your love relationship with God both ways—by delighting in the wonderful being that he is, and by basking in his delight in you. As surely as a child is the delight of his father and a bride the delight of the bridegroom, you are a delight to God. He enjoys YOU.
- Build the brotherhood friendships that Jesus modeled with Peter, James, and John. One successful Christian businessman laments, “In one year, we’ve seen a tenfold increase in business, and that’s exciting. But I’m tired because I feel alone. Yes, I have a wife who is very supportive; but there are no men supporting me. When I read Exodus 17 of Moses being lifted up by other men, I watch a TEAM of men fight the Amalekites, the hated enemies of the Israelites. Moses gets tired and yet Aaron and Hur, his two friends, hold him up. God, I need some Aarons and Hurs in my life to join me.”
- Build a flourishing love relationship with your wife. Certainly, there are days when unselfishly trying to love the other drains our emotional tank. But over the long haul, our romance with our wives should be adding to our emotional reserves. Rejoice in the wife of your youth…be intoxicated always in her love (Prov 5:18-19). That is a picture of two renewed hearts.
LIFE EXPEREINCE #2: EVERYTHING IS SO HARD
Life often gets discouraging just because it is so tough. Because this world is fallen, everyday life can be relentlessly difficult and exhausting. This constant resistance wears us out emotionally and spiritually, which can cause a loss of perspective. We begin to see people, events, political movements, and institutions that appear to be more powerful than the God of our faith. We lose heart. Our motivation to fight starts slipping away bit by bit.
Authors Anne and Ray Ortland, in their book, You Don’t Have to Quit, pose this question: “Is there a secret that could help you stick it out through your darkest, most trying situations, until you emerge truly victorious?" In other words, “how can you keep from losing heart when everyday life is SO HARD?” They continue, “When you think about it, everybody’s had those periods. And the people who have made it have come through a time sequence—a time sequence that could be the clue to your making it, too: a) They began, in some new situation or effort; b) They hit problems and somehow worked their way through them; c) They came out on top.” Reaching any worthwhile spiritual goal requires traveling through three stages: a vision for what is to be accomplished for God’s glory, resistance that must be overcome, and success when the objective is reached. The Ortlands point to many biblical examples of this three-stage reality, including the rebuilding Jerusalem’s wall.
In prayer, God gives Nehemiah a vision for rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. That’s stage A. God provides all that he needs, and Nehemiah ingenuously captures the hearts of the people to rebuild the wall. But before they even start, they hit stage B—opposition—the demoralizing efforts of Sanballat and Tobiah the Ammonite. The people push through these efforts to discourage them and quickly build the wall to half its needed height. But then they find out that Sanballat and Tobiah had formed a band of warriors to attack them as they worked—even stronger resistance. So, Nehemiah splits his workforce in half—one group building the wall—the other holding weapons. But resistance from Sanballat and Tobiah continues. They try four times to trick Nehemiah into meeting with them to kill him and falsely accused Nehemiah of wanting to be king of Jerusalem as his motive. But the people persevere all the way through stage B until in Nehemiah 6:15 we read, “So the wall was finished in 52 days.” They got to stage C. I can’t help but think of the quote of Vince Lombardi, “Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.”
A major help in overcoming discouragement is realizing that accomplishing nearly any worthwhile goal requires persevering through stage B—the resistance stage to reach stage C. In fact, the bigger the kingdom objective, the more intense the spiritual resistance. As Paul explains, We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. A seminary friend of mine decided to return to his career as a voice over professional moving to Manhattan because he was convinced that Christians needed to have more influence in the media. He’s been working there, praying and having an influence for Christ forty years. At one point as George was discouraged about the impact his prayers were having, he had the distinct impression that God was saying, “George, you don’t know how big a request that is. You don’t know how entrenched sin is in human hearts, and minds, and institutions. But persevere, you are making a difference that matters!” It may feel like we are losing. But the most meaningless statistic in a ball game is the score at halftime.
Let’s travel back to the example of Elijah. Yes, he is a reminder of how vulnerable we can be when we are totally spent. But he is also the example, par excellence, of perseverance in prayer all the way through stage B. When he marched into Ahab’s palace to say, “there will be no rain or dew in this land until I say so,” he knew that God was telling Ahab that He was implementing the curse in the covenant sanctions of sending draught if Israel went whoring after other gods. Elijah knew that his role was to pray 2 things 1) that God would bring repentance in the nation from its worship of Baal instead of God and 2) that it would not rain until that happened. But what Elijah didn’t know was how long he would have to keep praying those two prayers. If Elijah prayed just 3 times a day, he would have asked God to bring about repentance in the nation of Israel over 3800 times and seen no evidence that God was answering his prayer. But he persevered.
LIFE EXPEREIENCE #3: FAILURE
Few experiences in life dishearten us more than failure, especially when such a failure has serious consequences. Before David became king, he made a costly mistake by leaving the city where his and his men’s families were living unguarded.
We pick up the story: When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep…. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him. BUT DAVID STRENGTHENED HIMSELF IN THE LORD HIS GOD. When we take our failure to the Lord, we discover that God is a great encourager. That is his nature. One of my favorite details about God’s relationship with David was a fact noted by David’s son, Solomon, when Solomon dedicated the temple, which he had built for God. Solomon recounts, The Lord said to David my father, “Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, YOU DID WELL THAT IT WAS IN YOUR HEART . Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name” (1 Kg 8:18).
Jesus is also The Great Encourager. He knows how our own failure can paralyze us. Perhaps that is why he so strongly encouraged Peter after he denied Him three times. That evening, Peter had boasted that he loved Jesus more than the other disciples. Mark 14:27 reads, Jesus said “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered….’ Peter said to him, “Even though THEY all fall away, I WILL NOT.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” Later, after Peter denied Christ, he wept bitterly over his disloyalty to Jesus but probably also his pride.
With that background, let’s look at John 21, which takes place after Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus has just conducted a miracle like he had when he first called Peter to be a fisher of men—supernaturally filling their nets with fish. They cooked some for breakfast. Then, we read, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Now, Peter has learned his lesson. He does NOT say YES, I love you MORE THAN THESE OTHER SIX DISCIPLES. He just says, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” (Jesus) said to him, “Feed my lambs.” Three times Peter had denied Jesus, so Jesus now gives Peter three opportunities to affirm his sincere devotion to him and three times Jesus accepts that profession, restoring Peter to the task of feeding his lambs. Failure is a part of life. But God is The Great Encourager. He loves it when we bring Him our failure. He can then give us the right perspective about it. Leadership expert John Maxwell explains:
How to Fail Forward
1. Appreciate the Value of Failure. Each time you fail, know that you’ve traveled another mile farther on the road to your potential. Soichino Honda, the founder of Honda Motors, offers this insight: “Many people dream of success. To me success can be achieved only through repeated failure and introspection. In fact, success only represents one percent of your work that results from 90 percent of that which is called, failure.”
2. Don’t Take Failure Personally. If you are in the habit of assassinating your own character or questioning your talent every time something goes wrong, stop it. Making mistakes is like breathing; it is something you will keep doing as long as you’re alive. So learn to live with it and move on.
3. Make Failure a Learning Experience. Failure isn’t failure unless you don’t learn from it. Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” He also said, “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
4. See the Big Picture. Failure is not final. There will be other days. Almost every successful person has overcome failure. For example, Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, and Bill Walsh accounted for nine of the fifteen Super Bowl victories between 1974 and 1989. Guess what else they have in common? For years, they also had the worst first-season records of any head coaches in NFL history. If they had based their potential for coaching success on the snapshot of their first season they probably would have quit. But life is not a snapshot—it’s a moving picture.
5. Don’t Give Up. Over two centuries ago a young man at age 22 lost his job as a store clerk. The next year he became a partner in a small store, which failed. The next year he fell in love and courted a girl for four years who then said, “no” to his marriage proposal. At 37, in his third try, he was elected to the state legislature, but two years later he lost the reelection. At age 40, he had a nervous breakdown. At age 41, his four-year-old son died. At age 45 he was defeated for the Senate. At age 47, he was defeated for vice president. At age 49 he was again defeated for the Senate. At age 51 he was elected president of the United States. Of course, his name was Abraham Lincoln, considered by many to be the greatest president we have ever had.
LIFE EXERIENCE #4: FEELING LIKE OUR EFFORTS ARE IN VAIN
Do you relate to any of these situations?
1. “I’ve always been generous with my business partner, and he just screwed me financially.”
2. “I hear people say they live victoriously over their own sexual desires, but I feel constantly defeated.”
3. "I’ve never worked harder to market my product, and the sales have never been lower.”
4. "I’ve asked God for the same thing everyday for years and He still hasn’t answered.”
5. “Just when I seemed to be getting along better with my wife we had another blowup.”
6. “I serve at church as well as I know how, but still I get criticized.”
7. “Just when it seemed like I could afford the house we need, the interest rates went up again.”
8. “I’ve been socializing with this group for a long time and I still feel I’m on the outside.”
9. “When I am honest in my business it causes me to lose sales, while my dishonest competitors are increasing their sales.”
10. “I’m tired of being the only one committed and faithful. No one else seems to care so why should I?”
There is a powerful biblical response to the question, “Why bother? It feels like we are losing.” That resounding answer from Paul is that the resurrection of Christ proves that God is overthrowing the kingdom of darkness and establishing his kingdom of righteousness. Paul ends his teaching on the resurrection overthrow of the kingdom of darkness with the words, Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain (I Cor 15:58). Every fruitful kingdom action we take, every kingdom heart attitude that exhibits the fruit of the Spirit—EVERY ONE MATTERS ETERNALLY. By this is my father glorified that you bear much fruit. Every single right action you take and every expression of Christ-like character that you exhibit—not only bring pleasure to your god RIGHT NOW, they will bring honor and glory to him for all of eternity.
For Further Prayerful Thought.
- What life lessons do you see from the example of Elijah’s spiritual high being followed by an emotional low that plunged to the point of asking God to take his life?
- How can the truth that nearly any objective that matters goes through the 3 steps of 1) beginning, 2) being resisted but persevered through, and only then reaching 3) success restore motivation when we are tired of the battle?
- What have you learned about how to prevent failure from demotivating you, but failing forward instead?
- What would you say to a Christian who said, “the kingdom of darkness just keeps winning. It feels like there is just no point to trying to stop the inevitable slide of our country into evil?”
