Walking in Exhaustion

A dear friend of mine posted this on Facebook some time ago:

“It is impossible to get exhausted in work for God. We get exhausted because we try to do God’s work in our own way.” – Oswald Chambers

I read this and thought about commenting, but I have a policy about addressing disagreements with friends via public platforms (I don’t). I decided to just scroll on by, but here we are, months later, and I’ve not been able to shake these words from my mind.

I get the point, and I don’t disagree with the intent. There is something to be said about the exhaustion that comes from trying to do things on our own, in our own power. We are not omnipotent, and so often we think we can do all the things. We live in a “pull myself up by my own bootstraps” culture, and there is a load of disappointment, and, yes, exhaustion that comes with trying to live that way instead of living in dependence on our savior.

I just can’t get in line, though, with the idea that if we are working for God, and doing what he has called us to do, we somehow, supernaturally just won’t get exhausted. Oswald’s implication that physical exhaustion is impossible if you are working for God seems antithetical to what I’ve read in the bible.

I have been reading through the Old Testament over the last year, and I have to tell you, God commanded the Old Testament prophets to do some hard things - some exhausting things, even.

In Ezekiel chapter 4, Ezekiel was commanded to lie on his side for 390 days, then flip and lie on the other side for 40 more days (all while eating a very limited meal) as a symbol for Israel and Judah’s respective sin and punishment. If you have ever been sick and had to lie in a hospital bed for a time, you know how exhausting that can be. Imagine doing this for over a year!

In Isaiah 20, Isaiah was commanded to walk around naked for three years. Um…no thanks?

Jeremiah was cast into prison, beaten, thrown into a cistern, and left to die. (Jeremiah had some big feelings about all this, by the way, and they weren’t happy ones. He isn’t called the weeping prophet for his limitless energy and happiness).

Then, there was Elijah. Elijah had an epic showdown with hundreds of false prophets of Baal, and God shows up in a big way (sending fire to burn up a drenched offering), and then God tells Elijah to do more. In 1 Kings 19, after finding out what happened, Jezebel says she’s coming for Elijah to kill him. Elijah runs for his life. He runs and drops off his servant and then runs another day into the wilderness. Losing hope, or perhaps in extreme exhaustion, he lies down, prays God would take his life, and then, depending on your translation, falls asleep or passes out from exhaustion.

Do you know what happens next? Does God rebuke him for feeling exhausted?

No. He sends an angel to feed him.

“Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God” (1 Kings 19:5-8).

What I find interesting in this passage is God takes care of Elijah when Elijah can no longer continue physically (out of fatigue and hunger), and then essentially tells him to buck up because he has forty more days/nights of journeying to do. Can you imagine being Elijah in that moment? You are exhausted to the point of death. God feeds you, which is great and all, but then he is like, “You good? Great, because you have a LONG way left to go.”

We see no evidence Elijah’s exhaustion was taken away. We only see God’s provision will sustain him in that exhaustion. He has forty more days and nights to journey. God seems to indicate it will be hard on him physically because if Elijah doesn't get up and eat a second time, “the journey will be too much” for him.

I think Elijah, along with many prophets, felt exhausted. Does this mean they were somehow working against God or out of line with his will? Sometimes, sure. They were imperfect humans. But there was also implicit exhaustion in following God’s direct orders. Elijah (a faithful prophet to the point he avoided physical death and was taken into heaven instead) was about as exhausted as one can get.

So, what’s my point?

I’ve been tired this fall. I’ve been exhausted, and Oswald’s quotation has caused me to reflect on my choices and actions. It has caused unfounded guilt and feelings of inadequacy. I’ve written about being busy before (See “The ‘Surface Pressure’ of Work”), and while I stand by the idea that my to-do list can sometimes hinder my heart toward serving the Lord, I do not think serving the Lord automatically means you won’t feel tired or exhausted.

This idea seems to fit right up there with the (false) idea that a life following Jesus is an easy one (read any of Paul’s letters, and you will soon be disillusioned by this idea).

But what about that one verse that literally talks about Jesus giving us rest?

That’s a great question.

I think Matthew 11:28 is actually about rest for our souls. When Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” I don’t think he means you won’t ever get physically tired. In fact, he follows this verse by promising “rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). This is a spiritual rest. You don’t have to keep searching or keep working toward righteousness on your own. Jesus has done the work of salvation for you, and you can rest in his work and salvation.

That being said, we aren’t promised ‘easy’ in this life. We aren’t promised energy and physical euphoria.

We are offered rest for our souls and love deeper and wider than we can fathom. We have access to peace that passes all understanding and wisdom when we ask in faith for it.

So, if you are feeling like following Jesus is a little harder than you expected or if you have some guilt that your to-do list for God isn’t a breeze, I invite you to release that despair or guilt.

Can God grant you supernatural energy and take away your exhaustion? Of course he can. He is God. He can do anything.

However, just because you are feeling exhausted doesn’t mean you have somehow missed his path for you. Exhaustion alone doesn’t mean you are in sin or breaking away from God and forging your own idolatrous trail.

Maybe you’re just walking in the way of Elijah. If so, rest in the knowledge he will sustain you, even in your exhaustion, and walk on.