Spiritual Exhaustion

I took some time to pick up my copy of "My Utmost for His Highest" today. This is only the third time I have opened it in 2009. I would love to be disciplined enough to read from it everyday. It is one of my favorite devotional tools, but I have owned it for years and have never read it cover to cover. I think the reason I love it so much is that whenever I do happen to pick it up, the devotion I read on that day relates specifically to something I need to hear.

I settled into my chair with my journal, devotional and Bible. I turned first to the February 9, entry in Utmost. The top of the page read, "Are you exhausted spiritually?" I knew this one was for me as I had just made a list of all of the things I needed to get done at the church by Wednesday night. One of the first sentences read, "Spiritual exhaustion never comes through sin, but only through service, and whether or not you are exhausted will depend on where you get your supplies."

I read on, "Has the way you have been serving God betrayed you into exhaustion? If so, then rally your affections. Where did you start the service from? From your own sympathy or from the basis of the Redemption of Jesus Christ?"

The entry ended as follows, "You have no right to say--'O Lord, I am so exhausted.' He saved and sanctified you in order to exhaust you. Be exhausted for God, but remember your supply comes from Him."

I will admit I am a little exhausted and overwhelmed right now. But I will also admit that I have not been very good about going to God to resupply my needs. I love the statement, "Be exhausted for God." I am not good as saying "no" to anything and I love to get involved in everything. It is really easy for me to get in over my head. I have learned that I need to really stop and think about how I get involved and why I want to get involved. This devotion really spoke to me because the next time I am considering service I need to think, about the statement "Where did you start the service from? From your own sympathy or from the basis of the Redemption of Jesus Christ?"

So today, I am taking my week to God and asking to be resupplied. By Friday, I know I will be exhausted. My prayer is that I am exhausted for God.