How to deal with weariness!
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Are you tired? Burned out through church or religion. Are you tired from leadership? Are you tired and weary from being a pastor and having to lead people through lockdown? Are you tired from living through the pandemic?
As well as a pandemic, we also live in a world of sin. Living in and around sin leads to weariness. Sin affects us. Shame, guilt and even self judgment wear us down. We end up heavy and burdened by all the stuff we should have done and the things we shouldn’t have done.
If I put diesel into a petrol car, then no matter how much I declare that my car will be ok, the truth is that the diesel will damage the car. Sometimes we don’t want to live with burdens and heaviness and so we quit church or we re-define what sin is and we ‘set ourselves free’ by reinterpreting what is and isn’t sin. In the same way, that putting diesel into a petrol car doesn’t work, so does trying to reinterpret what sin is will not work.
The reality is that whether we acknowledge it or not, sin is real and when we live in control of our own lives, we sin.
Sin is where we live selfishly and we act in a way that goes against how God designed us to live. He is perfect and good and loving and he designed us to live according to his design for our lives and he designed us to live in relationship with him.
Today I believe that Jesus wants to help us. He is the only one who can help us and bring us the refreshing and freedom that we need.
There is a story in the Bible about a man called Joshua who meets the angel of the Lord. We found this story in Joshua chapter 5. Joshua had just crossed the Jordan. He would have been tired. Tired because he had led the Israelite people through the Jordan river.
Leadership can be tiring. Especially when there is a whole nation leaning on you and depending on you for their success. Not only was Joshua tired from leading, but he would have been tired from grieving. Moses had only just died. Joshua had been close to Moses and Moses had been a rock to Joshua and the nation of Israel and Moses had been a leader of leaders.
In this story, Joshua was at Gilgal, a place where the Israelites had camped after crossing the river Jordan. Out of nowhere, Joshua sees a man who appears and calls himself the commander of the Lord’s army. Many theologians believe that this was an appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament. Jesus commands Joshua to take off his shoes because this is Holy ground.
Through the Bible we see a clear picture of the definition of holiness. We see that Holiness is separation from sin. Holiness is a place that is completely free from the burdens and the heaviness and the darkness of sin. Holiness is a place of freedom. Holiness is a place of laughter and joy. Holiness is a place that is full of light and love. Holiness is a place where we can rest and recover and be refreshed.
It was in this place of holiness that Joshua would have found refreshing from his tiredness. Holiness wasn’t found through the efforts of Joshua. Holiness wasn’t a state that Joshua attained through his own perfection. Holiness was a free gift. The Holiness that Joshua experienced was an act of grace. Jesus appeared to Joshua because he chose to appear to Joshua and not because of anything that Joshua did to deserve it.
Joshua experienced Holiness that was found in the presence of a person. Jesus.
In our worship, we need to remember that Jesus is more than our friend, or our lover. We need to remember Jesus is the Holy one. It is in his holiness that we find true refreshing.
Jesus came 2000 years and he lived a holy life of love. He then died on the cross and rose again.
Today, you can trust in Jesus and in what he did on the cross. Today, you can STAND IN HIS HOLINESS. Today you can GIVE him your burdens. You can give him your sin and shame. When you stand in his holiness you will find refreshing and freedom.
In his holiness, you will also find your identity. Holiness. He doesn’t just free you from your burdens, but when you stand in him, you grow in knowing the reality of your new nature. Holy. In him you are holy. The more you spend time being in his presence, the more you will find yourself growing in real tangible holiness. This means, that the more time you spend IN HIM, the more you will find freedom from weariness, burdens, shame and the more you will find joy and peace. You will find a spring in your step, a fresh love for people and a lightness on the inside when you spend time IN HIS Holiness. It is in his presence that you were born to live.
Pray with me. Jesus, I stand in awe of you. Jesus, I thank you for your holy presence. I give you my burdens. I give you my sin.
