LIE: I can’t get involved because I don’t have enough time, resources or energy, Part 3

Lie: I can’t get involved because I don’t have enough time, resources or energy.

Truth: I can do everything that God calls me to do.

This lie is so big, so pervasive, that it warrants this three-part series. In the first two articles I dealt with time and then resources. In this last part, I’ve saved the best till last — I’ll tackle energy.

In the final analysis, it is we, and our own energy – our very life – that we must draw upon to get off the couch and, in ways small and large, live with and love our neighbor. But it’s easier said than done. So many things compete and discourage us from getting involved. Sometimes, it’s nothing short of a battle just to get moving in the morning.

Note: Nameless exhaustion is often another name for discouragement or depression. Christians are by no means exempt from it. See my article: LIE: Christians shouldn’t get discouraged.

How then do we overcome this inertia, what we often say to ourselves: ‘I’m too tired,’ or ‘I’m just exhausted.’ We’ve all been there and no amount of guilt-tripping, motivational speeches, or rah-rah Christianity can long deliver us from our chronic fatigue. It will take something more fundamental. I hope to scratch that surface here.

Here then are five keys to ensure we won’t fritter away our lives — five keys to overcome the inertia we all feel.

• Understand and accept your physical limits of health and strength.
• Understand, accept and participate in your calling and mission to produce the motivation and energy to complete it.
• Don’t go it alone | Going it alone will quickly deplete your energy.
• Learn to go beyond your own strength.
• Learn to flow with the Spirit.

1  Understand and accept your physical limits of health and strength

Tonight, without fail, everyone of us will crawl into bed or a sofa or onto a floor, or some other horizontal surface and fall asleep. Some do so willingly; others begrudgingly, collapsing with their phone in hand, etc. You cannot avoid sleep, yet many keep trying.[1]

The longer I live, the more that sleep – the phenomenon of sleep – fascinates me. It is such a picture, a window to our walk with God.

Sleep is the ‘little death.’ In so many ways it is a rehearsal for our own death (and our resurrection) and its inevitability. In this nightly ritual dance our God wants to teach us that we can trust him.

On the one hand, sleep is at least partially under our control; but on the other hand, it’s not under our control at all. We can resist it with brute force, coffee or something stronger, but eventually we will succumb and we know this. And when we do succumb we are not even aware that it’s happening. Or rather, we lose our awareness of this world and become gradually aware of another world that seems, at least at the time, just as real as this one.

The energy available to us is largely dependent on the quality of our sleep and the tranquility that should accompany it.

With sleep our God gently draws us, beckons us to willingly surrender to him; to release our fears, our worries and yield our spirits to his loving embrace; to acknowledge our vulnerability and to take our refuge in him.

This is the secret training ground of sleep.

Now why say all that? What does that have to do with accepting our physical limits and thereby overcoming the inertia of our claim to not enough energy? It would seem that accepting sleep is the very opposite of what we should do. Wouldn’t doing that only encourage us in our claim to a lack of energy? Yes, it could. But zooming out to the bigger picture, life/energy is cyclical; our energy is not constant or stable or uniform. It ebbs and flows in predictable and near universal ways. It builds in the morning, peaks sometime later, fades in the afternoon heat,[2] then slowly declines in the evening when darkness pervades our world, [3] until we lose one-hundred percent of our energy and cannot move at all (sleep).[4]

When we understand this we equip ourselves to take advantage of the peaks of energy and conserve and build our energy in the valleys.

But there’s another dynamic at work in our lives. It’s quite obvious but it also happens so gradually that we fail to see it. I’m talking about the inevitability of transitioning from the use of physical energy to mental, emotional and personal energy. I’m talking about what’s normally called the process of aging.

It would be hard to prove but I believe the contour of our life – from birth to adulthood to old age – parallels the cycle of life/energy in one day.[5] Just as our physical energy peaks early during a given day, so our physical energy and productivity also peaks early in our life, usually in our 20s and 30s. And just as we have bursts of energy during the day, followed by a gradual decline, so also there are bursts of energy in our life, followed by a gradual decline.

But this gradual decline in physical energy is mirrored in the rise of and a transition to a mental, emotional and personal energy. Traditionally, in a typical day, we go from inside to outside and then return inside. The physical energy is expended in work outside, in the heat of the day, and then we return indoors and expend a different kind of energy, a mental, emotional and personal energy in conversation, contemplation and other quieter activities.[6]

Paul recognized this transition when he said:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. — 2 Corinthians 4:16–18

But this passage speaks not only about the natural aging process, it also describes and introduces the next key.

2  Understand, accept and participate in your calling and mission to produce the motivation and energy to complete it.

This is key.

The context for the passage quoted above is so important to understand.

Why does Paul not lose heart? In saying this, he obviously realizes that it otherwise is possible and even inevitable to lose heart if this necessary ingredient is not there.

So what is it? What is the ‘secret sauce’ that keeps Paul motivated? What does the word ‘Therefore’ point to?

Notice these phrases:

All things are for your sakes.
So then death is working in us, but life in you.
He . . . will raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.
. . . grace, having spread through the many may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
. . . if we are of sound mind, it is for you.
. . . for the love of Christ compels us.
. . . and he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves . . .
. . . God . . . has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

Why then does Paul not lose heart? Simply put, it’s because, as he says in his letter to the Romans, he has presented his “body as a living sacrifice.”

In verse 10 of Second Corinthians he says:

. . . always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

To understand this we must use spiritual discernment because this concept seems rationally counterintuitive. How could sacrificing our body, which embodies our life and all of our energies, motivate me – energize me – to love?

Just so:

When we choose to love someone, even at the expense of our own well-being, we are also choosing to participate in the way that God overcomes and reconciles the world to himself. And the way that he does this is nothing short of astonishing, shocking even. The fact is that God in human form loved us to the point of putting himself at risk, making himself vulnerable, or as Paul said to the Philippian church: Jesus ‘humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.’

So participating with God in his ministry of reconciliation through vulnerable love should motivate us because, by participating in God’s enterprise, we cannot fail and we end up inheriting one of the most revered attributes of God — super-conqueror.[7]

Paul said it like this:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. — Romans 8:31–39

Do you hear the triumphant, sonorous, trumpeting voice with which this is written? This is the ‘secret sauce,’ the hidden ingredient. The motivation, the not losing heart then is not one of ‘getting by,’ but one of joy and triumph.

Yet Paul also says that ‘we have this treasure in earthen vessels.’ The fact is that we do suffer and endure pain and sorrow in the midst of this joy and triumph. We experience these emotions in succession but also simultaneously:

. . . as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing . . . — 2 Corinthians 6:10 a

Coming back then to our key, what this means is that focusing on our calling and mission is extremely important. It may not be as strategic or visible as Paul’s ministry; but nonetheless, it is what God has given you to do. But then again, you may not know what it is or it may still be unclear. If so, seek God and the body of Christ to gain a better understanding and then step out in faith, trusting God for the results. Wholeheartedly pursuing your calling this way will eventually uncover and confirm it. But it may take months or years to find out. Yet in the process God’s will will be done, people will be blessed and healed and God will be glorified.

3  Don’t go it alone | Going it alone will quickly deplete your energy

This ought to be self-evident but the truth is that too many, especially now, pursue their calling and mission apart from the body of Christ. They may mean well and, yes, ministry may get done, yet when ministry is pursued in a vacuum, it too easily grows weak, compromised or corrupted in a thousand ways.

We and our mission are part of the body of Christ and we are related to others in the body. So we must work to build those relationships. It takes time but your mission will be on a much stronger foundation if it’s birthed and nurtured in the larger mission and work of the church.

Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. — Acts 13:1–3

4  Learn to go beyond your own strength

Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church is an instructive letter in many ways, but it’s especially instructive in the ways of suffering. It is probably the most autobiographical of Paul’s letters. In it he appeals to the Corinthian church to trust and listen to him based on the amount of suffering he’s endured for them, which is a tangible sign of his love for them. He plainly contrasts his own ministry with the ministry of others who called themselves apostles, but who would not stoop to humble themselves and suffer for them like Paul had done.

In the opening lines of the letter he speaks of the economy of suffering and consolation and a particular time when he and his ministry team ‘were burdened beyond measure, above strength.’

For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, — 2 Corinthians 1:5–9

How can we go beyond our own strength — isn’t that impossible?

Well, there is another energy that we can tap into in this process — a limitless, resurrection energy:

To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. — Colossians 1:29

Here again there will be times – if we’re doing his will you can count on it – that we will need his divine energy, that is, that we consciously will need to draw upon it. But this energy may only ‘kick in’ when we need it, when we will have reached the end of our own.

Paul spoke about this in a different way later:

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. — 2 Corinthians 12:7–10

Christ himself showed us of this way in the desert and in the Garden of Gethsemane. First the temptation in the wilderness:

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. — Matthew 4:1–4, 11

Then in the garden:

Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. — Luke 22:39–44

Notice that Jesus honestly assesses and confesses his state of mind; he’s ‘sorrowful even unto death.’ This may seem like a shocking admission, but it is an instructive one. He knew and accepted and admitted to his closest friends, his own human limitations, knowing, trusting and praying for the divine strength to carry him through.[8]

5  Learn to flow with the Spirit

Yes, when we reach the end of our own strength, the strength of the Spirit is there to ‘kick in.’ But actually we can learn to draw upon that strength and learn to walk in it in ‘normal life.’ This is the life-long pursuit of walking in the Holy Spirit.

So much could be said here to guide us in this way, but let me say a few things:

A  Let your words be few.

Do not be rash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth;
Therefore let your words be few. — Ecclesiastes 5:2

and:

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. — James 1:19–20

I’m convinced that when Jesus spoke, every word counted. But we have a tendency to say too much, to try to manipulate people and circumstances with our words. But as the saying goes, less is more.[9]

B  Establish a life rule or rhythm.

Jesus clearly had a rhythm to his life. It could be described by the valley to the mountain and back to the valley cycle. Here’s one example of Jesus retreating to the mountains:

Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray. Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. — Mark 6:45–47

Jesus knew he needed regular extended times with the Father. At those times he sought silence and solitude. We also will learn the constant presence and power of the Spirit and learn to draw upon it if we learn to properly escape and immerse ourselves in that world.

C  Recognize when resources and timing coincide.

All of us have experienced it — an unexpected check arrives, a bonus, a gift, along with opportunity to travel, to visit, to experience, to see something wonderful. Suddenly we have a burst of energy and motivation. The trifecta windfall: time, resources and energy.

At those times, receive these love gifts of the Spirit. Then step out and boldly do what is in front of you, filled with the power of the Spirit to do what he is calling you to do.

D  Do not let fear paralyze you.

Fear, in all its many forms – anxiety, trepidation, worry, etc – is probably the most common way that the devil keeps us bound and paralyzed, which too easily twists into: ‘I’m too tired,’ the addiction to the familiar.If we are to flow in the Spirit and move in faith, we must overcome our fears.

Fear has many sources, but currently, fear of a virus, of suffering and death, is pushed assiduously by the media and our federal, state and local governments. Whether you believe the virus is real or not, we must not let fear rule us.

How to overcome fear?

We overcome fear with faith:

  in the resurrection power of Christ.
  in the final just judgment of our enemies.
  in the mercy of the Lord that endures forever.
  in the truth that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Now let’s gather up all these words and pray.

O God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You, the eyes of our understanding being enlightened; that we may know what is the hope of Your calling, what are the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of Your power toward us who believe, according to the working of Your mighty power which You worked in Christ when You raised Him from the dead and seated Him at Your right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And You put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Amen! — adapted from Ephesians 1:17–23

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[1]See my article: LIE: Sleep is a waste.

[2] The Pew Research Center reports that roughly a third of American adults nap daily. See https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2009/07/29/nap-time/ captured 27 August 2020.

[3] Darkness is also a picture of evil and death and our vulnerability and necessity to trust in God.

[4] This is a common energy cycle but of course there are others. The point is to identify the peaks and valleys and to work with them.

[5] Physical and mental/emotional energy are inseparable and a continuum.

[6] There is another dynamic at work that affects both our physical and mental health and strength. Modernity has infected our environments with thousands of toxic compounds — gaseous, liquid and solid — plus radio frequency energies in which we constantly swim. Depending on our exposure, we all will experience some degradation of our health and strength. The conventional medical establishment exploits this vulnerability and presumes to be the primary source of healing and health, but until the twentieth century, the primary sources of healing and health have always been natural substances and processes. This is still no less true today.

[7] From the Greek hypernikáō, from hyper: beyond and nikao: conquer; to be completely and overwhelmingly victorious — superconqueror.

[8] See my article: LIE: Christians should not get discouraged.

[9] See also my article: LIE: More is better.