Are You Spiritually Drained?

1 Kings 19:3-5 NIV

“Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.”

Have you ever been spiritually drained? Spiritually fatigued? Maybe you’re not at the point of wanting to die, but you just don’t have the drive and passion you want to have. You want to honor God, but you keep falling into sin. You know the right thing to do, but everything within you resists doing it. The promises of God don’t stir and excite you like you want them to. You’ve grown numb. 

If you’ve felt this way, you’re not alone. Not only did Elijah feel ready to drop, but Paul did as well. “For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength”, he writes in 2 Cor. 1:8 (ESV). So, what I want to do is give you a solution without giving you more “stuff” to do. Another item on your to-do list might probably just be something you don’t feel like doing; and might only reinforce your feelings of inadequacy.

Instead, what I want to give you is hope. In Deut. 8:3, Moses says of God, “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (NIV).

I want us to home in on the word “manna”. Why is manna important? Because it’s something God gave to His children in their time of lack. While the Israelites were wandering in the desert, they had no food. So, they depended on God to supply them manna, which was bread from heaven. And God only supplied them enough food for one day at a time (Ex. 16:4). The only exception was the sixth day, in which they had food enough for that day and the Sabbath (Ex. 16:5). This was the answer to their lack! 

This is also the answer to your lack of will. God is gracious enough to supply you exactly what you need to move forward. He can bring about the right person, the right word, the right circumstance, the right motivation, the right conviction, etc. Just be on the lookout for what He is supplying and how He’s providing for you. When you’ve run out of discipline, God can be your strength. When you’ve run out of the will to fight, God can be your fuel! 

All you have to do is keep pressing forward toward God. It’s not gonna be clean. It’s not gonna be a straight line. But keep staggering toward the finish line and watch God see you through it! Sometimes, the only thing you can do to move forward is to cry, “God help me!”. And that’s okay! Give God all that you got and He can multiply it.

Look what God did with a jar of oil! (2 Kgs. 4:1-5)

Look what God did with six stone water jars! (Jn. 2:1-11)

Look what God did with five loaves of bread and two fish! (Matt.14:13-21, Mk. 6:31-44, Lk. 9:12-17, and Jn. 6:1-14)

But it goes beyond multiplication. We see God sustaining His loved ones who were sapped of strength. In Matthew 4, Jesus had been fasting for forty days. Satan tempted Him to command some stones to turn into bread. Jesus retorts by quoting the above passage from Deuteronomy: ““It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matt. 4:4). Jesus was successfully able to complete a forty-day fast because His Father sustained Him.

At the end of that narrative, we read: “Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him” (Matt 4:11). This is not the only time God sent an angel to help someone in distress. Let’s go back to story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19 after he had gone to sleep:

“All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you. So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.” (1 Kgs 19:5-8)

God knew exactly what Elijah needed when Elijah had run out of gas. In the same way, God knows exactly what you need in your moment of being spent. And He is there to spur you along on the journey!

Let’s now revisit the words of Paul and conclude with his statement in context:

“For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” (2 Cor. 1:8-9)

When you are spiritually drained, it’s time to stop relying on self. Instead, look for God’s gracious supply and make a move toward Him. Your Father will not fail you!

All praise, all honor, all glory be to God forever in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth! Amen and amen!