How many of you are finding yourselves hitting the caffeine a little more? How about the snooze button? Does the thought of just watching the news, looking on social media, looking at your phone just wear you out?
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt!
You might not be that extreme but are you finding yourself feeling more exhausted lately?
Many people are, there is a weariness in our culture, so much going on, so much that is frustrating. Many are not eating right, getting the sleep they so desperately need, or handling stress the way we should.
From a practical standpoint, exercise, proper rest, proper diet, and a daily devotional life spending time in the word and in prayer will often provide the refreshing we need. But Paul gives a description of some things that may be causing our weariness that we may want to look into….so eat right, exercise, get proper rest, develop that devotional life and let’s look a few other things that may be making you weary that you may not be thinking about.
Galatians 6: 1-3
Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. 2 Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. 3 If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.
Is there anyone in the room who has not sinned in the last month? How about last week? The last hour? All of us battle sin but when a brother or sister is overcome by some sin, that means it is beating them down, they know they should not be in this position but for whatever reason they are, they don’t need to be reminded of their sin but instead we need to find a way to bring them back to life.
Paul is saying as you look around the room and see the weight on your brother or sister’s life carrying the weight of the world, perhaps guilt from their past, an overwhelming sense of fear or anxiety, perhaps some other sin they are involved in that they know is wrong, look for ways to lift them up as you could just as easily fall into this or a similar sin…
Peter put it this way in 1 Peter 4:8
Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
Our love for each other does not excuse the sin people are walking in, we must always be vigilant to be the light and live the truth but it is so much more fruitful to love people to healing. Rather than sitting in judgment, Paul’s suggestion of seeing that they are overcome by their sin is telling us they are already condemning themselves more than we could ever do so why add to that weight. Being judgmental always needing to be the police over everyone else’s life is wearying it is a standard none of us can bear but bearing the standard of love, looking at our brothers and sisters in pain, recognizing if it wasn’t for the grace of God we could be walking where they are walking or remembering that we have walked in their place.
How do we overcome exhaustion?
Be the refreshing to those in sin
Be the hope to those in sin
Be the love to those in sin
They are the one God loves the most
Paul is only addressing the churches response to the church here but allow me to challenge to look at those outside of the church through the same eyes.
I recently ran into one of the most bigoted, prejudice person I have met in a long time. He began to spew all kinds of garbage my way not because he knew me, he didn’t I was just the wrong color and in his line of fire. I listened, as I kept listening his tone decreased as he noticed I was actually listening to him. He began to share with me his pain and I understood, a little, of why I was the object of his hate. After 45 minutes of a no-judgment zone, just listening (as everyone has a story). I said I was truly sorry for what had happened to him because of people of the color of me but told him not everyone was like that. I explained that Jesus came to lift up and heal those with broken hearts and he tore down prejudice and racism in his culture and that he wanted all people to know God’s great love joy and peace. I asked him if I could pray for him, I prayed and blessed him. I turned an enemy into a friend. We exchanged numbers and he has called since and asked for prayer.
I could not fully relate to his pain but prejudice, bigotry, hatred are all sins regardless of their roots and it is a heavy lift to try to help someone if you aren’t filled with Jesus’ kind of love. The weight that could have been on me if I would have allowed it, the weariness he was feeling and the weariness I could have felt if I would have allowed that to infect me but there was an old Baptist hymn and the chorus went “love lifted me, love lifted me, when nothing else could help love lifted me!”
Paul doesn’t stop there when addressing our weariness…Galatians 6: 4,5
Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. 5 For we are each responsible for our own conduct.
It is indeed wearisome to constantly be in comparison to others…at what age did your kids get a cell phone?
Comparison can wear you out fast….am I good enough, are my kids as happy as Gideon’s kids, is my house, my car as nice as Gideon’s house….are my kids as good at sports, dance, art, math whatever as Gideon’s….Paul reminds us of this in his letter to the church at Philippi
Philippians 4:11-13
Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Paul always had an attitude of gratitude, he was grateful for what he had, he was thankful for the gifts God had given him, the opportunities God had given him and trusted that the Lord would supply all of his needs as he says just a few verses later (19). If your eyes are always on other people constantly comparing yourself, your stuff, your abilities to them, it is exhausting, constantly feeling like others expectations of you are greater, is also exhausting the only time we are to look at others is when they are living more like Jesus than we are! Paul challenged the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 11:1 to be imitators of him, to look at him if they were having a hard time seeing Jesus…
How do we overcome exhaustion?
Look to Jesus
Thank God, (have an attitude of gratitude) for your blessings, gifts, talents
Trust Him that His plan for you is better than you could ever Imagine
Trust that He has an amazing plan for your life and you are the one he loves the most!
Paul continues to speak about overcoming exhaustion
Galatians 6:6
Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.
Be generous, when you are stingy you are always worried about money all of the time. In a minute we will find out the results of being generous but you should always be giving three ways.. Tithe – Malachi 3:8-12 was something that predated the law Abraham gave to Melchizedek it is 10% of your income comes to the church. Offerings are something that is given beyond the tithe through the church or other ministries to advance the kingdom purposes, then there are Alms – which is given beyond the tithe to help the poor inside or outside of the church. When you give it doesn’t mean you won’t worry from time to time but you can always come back at remind the Lord of your giving….when you give this way God promises to bless you in every way so the world can see you are blessed and bless him! It is refreshing to not worry about finances!
How do we overcome exhaustion?
Give
Stop worrying about money and prices
Start thanking God for the blessing you have and will be coming!
Lets wrap this up Galatians 6: 7,8
Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
Paul is saying God works within the law of sowing and reaping. Now please understand because you are going through some trouble struggle or difficulty it does not mean you have some some awful seed. That was an argument Eliphaz was using against job but was wrong. Job’s harvest did come but it was not negative but a double blessing despite his struggles. Often we as Christians will judge others by what they are walking through but we need to wait for the outcome because some like Job are merely walking through a struggle when God has a harvest of abundance just on the next horizon…. But we can grow weary sowing to our flesh and reaping the harvest from the flesh which is only temporary and never fulfilling only wearying. But when we sow into spiritual things, Paul is referencing that church here and the things of the Spirit we get all the Spirits blessings of life, joy, peace, blessing, freedom, rest and so much more. It is wearying to pursue only temporary gratification it doesn’t fill us but pursuing God first as Jesus told us in Matthew 6:33
How do we overcome exhaustion?
Seek out and find what is God’s best for you
Expect a harvest from what you have sown
Don’t’ look at temporary discomfort as your harvest if you have been sowing to please the Spirit!
If you are doing all of these things here is the Holy Spirit’s encouragement through Paul
How you will overcome exhaustion!
Galatians 6:9
So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
This is God’s promise for overcoming exhaustion…he promises if you do this lifting, if you choose in all of these things to be God’s ambassador he will continually refresh and as we need the blessings they will always be there because God can be counted on to be faithful for his people
How do we overcome exhaustion?
Eat right, sleep right, get the right exercise, develop a devotional life (being in prayer and the Word daily)
Be the love others need to lift them up
Maintain an attitude of gratitude (it eliminates stinking thinking)
Place the Lord first with your finances
Expect blessings to come from what you have sown
Remember God’s got this!