“But those who wait in the Lord renew their strength, rise with wings like eagles, run and do not tire, walk, and do not tire. Isaiah 40. 31
“For it was beyond our strength, to the point of despairing even of life itself. In ourselves, however, we have been sentenced to death. 2 Corinthians 1, 8?9
- What do we call exhaustion? is the experience of overloading so deep that our usual capabilities of resilience.
- Reaction.
- Stability.
- Trust.
- And perseverance are no longer enough.
- Exhaustion means something very deep that collapses us.
- And we simply cannot continue.
- Pastors understand burnout.
- And not only in the lives of others.
- But in ours.
How does the Bible approach exhaustion?
Isaiah 40. 31 promises us the power of God’s support, but Isaiah 40. 31 never intended to describe our lives in detail at any time. It has always been designed to ensure that we are on the overall trajectory of our lives. Verse 30, just before, describes the exhaustion of the fort:
“Young people are tired and tired, and exhausted children fall off. “
Obviously, this verse doesn’t say that young people just feel fatigue and exhaustion, what it says is that, despite their limitless vigour, even sometimes along the way, they collapse because of tiredness, it’s a general question and probably true.
Verse 31 does the same, but from a different perspective. Those who wait on the Lord, despite their weaknesses, will become living proof of their incredible power of maintenance and renewal. But we have no guarantee that those who are waiting for him (verse 31) will not be exhausted either (verse 30).
We have every right to include in our normative paradigm the Christian experience both the Power of Support of the Lord and our general narrative and the paralyzing experience of the occasional rupture.
The other verse, 2 Corinthians 1: 8-9, fits significantly into Isaiah 40. 31’s broader security structure. Indeed, Paul’s suffering makes this certainty even more meaningful. Paul was not running away from the Lord or neglecting the Lord. He had his daily devotions, he lived by faith, etc. But even this faithful Shepherd has reached the wall of limitation and defeat.
And so it is today. Faithful shepherds can be so humiliated by the intensity of ministry that they give their lives, and these sacrificed shepherds are the same ones who, while waiting for the Lord, will be renewed by His grace.
Therefore, if a faithful shepherd is exhausted, it is not necessarily evidence against him. Does God give this shepherd living proof that God resurrects the dead?(2Co 1. 9). Is this what the shepherd’s sheep need to see in him?Not only God’s power to sustain Him in the normal flow of ministry, but also God’s power to resurrect Him in the extreme moments of defeat. It is also a pastoral ministry, for people who need hope when life is impossible.
A few years ago, I went through a ministerial catastrophe that shook me even on my foundations. During this episode, a new thought came to your mind: all your life you have believed that God loves you. But look at the bombed-out debris that’s his ministry now. Maybe the truth of your existence is the opposite. Maybe God hates your essence.
Finally, I realized, by grace, that I was right the first time: God really loves me. But before I arrived, there were many nights when I would wake up around 3 a. m. , exhausted but not able to sleep, then get up, make coffee, read the Bible and yell at God, that’s all I had. And he made me come in.
In fact, I ended up in a better place than before, because now I had something to say about God’s power to resurrect the dead.
God’s goal for us shepherds is not that we never sink into the deepest depths, but when we sink into the deepest depths, we find God Himself, who awaits us there with a deeper grace, to revive the spirit of humanity. Humble? (Is 57:15).
I recently found an article about the prayer my father wrote for his magazine fifty years ago. The title of your article sums up the sentence in such a simple and fruitful way: “Go to God and hold on!?If you are exhausted, totally overwhelmed, beyond your strength, making you despair for your own life, I simply advise you: go to God and hold on. It certainly squeezes you. He’ll renew his strength. And your ministry will be deeper than ever.