September 14 2018 – Click here to listen
I had a conversation with a good friend yesterday who told me he was in a rut. He went on to say that instead of going out and doing the ministerial work he has done for decades, he now finds himself spending time playing solitaire on his computer and before he realizes it he has squandered two hours. He has lost his drive and it is frustrating to him. He has always been the organizer and the one riding into the battle leading the charge. Now he has been reduced to a couch potato. My friend is getting up in age and his expectations are unreasonably high by a normal person’s standards. In fact, most would say he deserves some rest. But he is one of those exceptional people who is highly intelligent, articulate, energized, and not limited by age. He loves the Lord and dedicates his life to Jesus.
Okay so what’s wrong? The bottom line is that he’s in a rut, which he’s easily figured out already. Where he is having trouble is getting out of it.
We’ve all been there. I know I have just begun to emerge from one myself. Some call this condition burnout, I disagree. My friend and I lack direction. I told him that when I was going through it I was at a loss as to what God wanted me to do. I wasn’t burned out or too tired to work, rather I just didn’t have a clearly defined direction. My friend told me that I just described his condition with pinpoint accuracy. I went on to say that I had been praying about it by myself for some length of time and yet God seemed as though He had withdrawn somewhere.
As we discussed the problem I told my friend that I’d discovered that it wasn’t God abandoning me, rather me abandoning God. I began to understand that perhaps God wanted a change of direction and I was trying to do the same things I’d been doing for years. In effect I wasn’t listening to what God was telling me or seeking direction with fervor.
Gosh it sure would be a lot easier if He would just summon us into the huddle and call the play He wants us to run. Instead He wants us to use our brains which are not accessories, but a vital part of His interaction with us. So as I meditated about it I thought the brain is wonderful for carrying out plans; however, the fuel that defines the plan and engages it is prayer.
I got out of my rut by running to God and I began with deep prayer. Over a period of several days I called some of the most spiritual and Godly men I knew and fervently prayed with them. In some cases, we prayed for two hours or more. We cried out to the Lord and He answered. No, he did not answer in an audible format, but just like we cannot see the undertow in the ocean, we can sure feel the pull and God made His presence known. I felt His peace come upon me and then began to put the puzzle together. I began to make progress each day which has continued through today.
The choice is ours. We can blame God for withdrawing and leaving us in a rut and perhaps march to that old Statler Brothers tune:
Counting flowers on the wall, that don’t bother me at all
Playing solitaire ’til dawn with a deck of fifty-one
Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo
Now don’t tell me I’ve nothing to do
Or we can get on our knees and earnestly seek God’s direction. Once He fills our minds, spirits, and souls with direction we can go out there and start making a difference in the world and fulfill our purpose for ever having been created in the first place. There is much suffering, pain, and dark evil in this world. Are you doing anything about any of it? Bernie Siegel once said: God wants us to know that life is a series of beginnings, not endings. Just as graduations are not terminations, but commencements. Creation is an ongoing process, and when we create a perfect world where love and compassion are shared by all, suffering will cease.
Your new beginning can start today, and you can commence to make the world a better place where suffering cannot exist. Cry out to the Lord for direction and then go for it.
Isaiah 30:21
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!