Intro:
For the last 2 Sundays we heard a lot of exhortations and teachings about how to know and overcome the stresses of life that cause every one of us to be drained that leads us to be recharged. Why do you think that our mother church decided to have this theme be on this month of July? It’s because many (including all of us) needed to be recharged and be restored to their faith.
This pandemic caused us a lot of problems that threatens not only on our physical health but also our spiritual health. Ever since we have started face to face gathering and we have opened our doors to almost everyone with 2 Sunday services, still many of our people opted to stay at home. They feel relaxed and somehow, they even hide their timidity with the fear of going out even going to church for a couple of hours only. However, we can see them going out for work, or going to malls yet they seem to forget to go to church and be reminded that they have their own faith to feed.
This is what we call spiritual dryness, where we opted to be satisfied of what we are now facing which many called “new normal”. This new normal syndrome includes forgetting or neglecting our responsibility to our soul to be nourished by God every Sunday if not every day. Dryness is being free of moisture or any liquid substance. Dryness is the loss of all wetness or moisture over a period of time. A person may stay for a period of time or for years without spiritual rain, wetness or moisture.
This new normal syndrome is very dangerous for us Christians, especially if we are not aware of our spiritual conditions in life. When we feel satisfied of not having fellowship with our brothers and sisters, when we neglect praying and reading His word and even doing other activities for our soul, this will lead to spiritual dryness. So today, allow me to share His Word in order for us to overcome this new normal syndrome and once more we will be…
Refreshed and Recharged!
Psalm 63:1-6
1You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
2I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.
3Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
4I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.
Initial Observation:
1. Here we can see that King David wanted to be refreshed again (v1). During this time of the life of David, he was apprehended and persecuted by King Saul, who was eaten by his pride and jealousy towards David. He seeks to kill David not just physically by also spiritually by depriving him going to the sanctuary of God to worship Him. David found himself in dry place with no water and he sought God more and more for refreshment. David sought to be closer to God; to have real communion with Him. Only hungry and thirsty men look for food and water.
2. He remembered His experience with God (v2&3). David saw how God helped him in many ways, through his victories in battles because of the power of God that gave God the glory through David. He remembered the love of God towards Him that made David glorify God through songs of praise.
3. He recommitted his life to God in v4 by stating “I will praise you as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands.”
4. He re-established his faith to God in v5 by stating that God will only satisfy him just like the rich, delicious food that he ever tasted.
5. He recalled his relationship with God every night in v6. David was so in-love with God even in the midst of sufferings, being alone and haunted, yet David wanted to be refreshed again with God.
Isn’t that amazing when we remember the first time, we met God in our lives in the midst of the problems and worries of life? Can we be like David today? Or are we being eaten by the new normal syndrome of this pandemic? For us Christians, it is not only the latest COVID-19 variants that we need to fear but also this new normal syndrome that hits most of us. And just like COVID-19, we are not aware we have it already.
Ptr. Mildred taught us the first week about the factors that can make us spiritually drained: negative influences like the people we work with or even things that we always do but with the effect of withdrawing God’s presence in us. How many of us were so busy even on this pandemic times? Yet we don’t have time to pray, read His word, nor even go to church for fellowship? Yet we use our time in less important things? Then we feel tired and don’t have anything more for God! The worldliness and unconfessed sins that controls us instead lead us away from God and so we become drained and dry.
How to overcome our spiritual dryness? I saw 4 people in the Bible who had their own experiences with God. From their own experiences we can arise and overcome this new normal syndrome…
1. We must be Honest of our real condition.
Let us take the example of Peter. We know how Peter denied Jesus 3x before He was crucified. The very reason God allowed Peter to deny Him is because Peter was not honest to himself and that he is the most scared person among the disciples of Jesus. He cannot simply accept that Jesus is going to be dead and after that they will all be finished.
If only Peter would be honest enough to himself to accept that he was scared and worried Jesus may give him an encouragement, but he chooses to be tough, immovable “(over my dead body) that they will take you out from me Lord” he said. It is Peter’s reverse mechanism to show masculinity and power over the situations they had that time. For Peter, it is a weakness for a man like him to accept that he is scared.
God loves the truth for the truth will set us free (John 8:32). This means that God loves honesty. The problem with honesty is that we can be honest to ourselves and be wrong at the same time. Especially if we stand some wrong principles of life and we actually live with these wrong principles, but we are very honest to ourselves about it. Sometimes it is our pride that dictates our action towards things around us.
The Bible says in Psalm 32:2 “Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.”
Why does God does not count sin against us? It’s because we are true to ourselves, we are true to the kind of situation we have for God. What God loves about honesty is that we are honest to what we feel regarding our relationship with God. And this is the lesson Peter learned.
Look how Jesus recharged Peter in John 21:15-17…
15When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
16Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 17The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.
What do you think Peter was hurt when Jesus asked him the 3rd time? Because Peter learned his lesson the hard way. Jesus asked him the 3rd time to instill to him of being honest to himself if Peter can really take the leadership from that day among the disciples and other believers.
How honest are we today that we need God? Or maybe, we are like Peter showing how strong we are yet deep inside, we are full of worries and struggles of life. To be refreshed is to be honest of what we feel about God today.
2. We must be Humble and willing to repent.
This is the experience of David in 2 Samuel 12. When King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, he also killed her husband Uriah to the hands of the Ammonites in order to cover up the sin of David. Later on, the Prophet Nathan rebuked David by stating a story of injustices between a wealthy man with many sheep and a poor man with only 1 sheep. The wealthy man forcefully killed the only sheep of the poor man instead of killing one of the many sheep he has. David angrily responded in v5 “David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
7Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!”
But look at the attitude of David in 2 Samuel 12:13-14 13“Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.”
Because of David’s humility, his life was not struck by God but as a consequence of that sin his son to Bathsheba will be dead. David could not lie before God and instead he humbled himself before God. He knew he committed sin against God and did not give any excuses before Him.
If we recall David’s action before this, he declined to join the war against the Ammonites in chapter 11 of 2 Samuel, a thing that a king like him will never do. But because of the past victories, Bible scholars believed that David was full of pride and that he thought that he is strong enough to withstand any forces against him including temptation. But he was wrong. He saw Bathsheba taking a bath from the roof of his palace and the rest is history.
Sometimes we are like David who fought many battles in life we won because of God’s mercy and grace. Yet there will come a time that we depend too much of our own strength instead of God’s and end up miserable because we failed God, we failed others expectation on us and we failed ourselves.
Look at David when he tried to keep his sins from God he was in agony, but when he confessed it, God forgave him.
Psalm 32:3-5
3When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
5Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
It is not enough that we are honest to ourselves before God, but we also need to humble before Him. It’s true that unconfessed sins are deadly just like the sin of David. But if we can humble ourselves before God, He is merciful and just to forgive us.
James 4:6 “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
David was able to get God’s grace and mercy because he humbled himself before God unlike King Saul when he sinned against God. And so are we. This is the time to accept our mistakes, our weaknesses, our shortcomings before God and be refreshed and recharged again.
3. We must be Hearers and doers of His Word.
The Prophet Elijah has his own experience to be recharged by God in 1 Kings 19. After a great duel between the prophets of Baal and Jezebel that took place in Mount Carmel in chapter 18 which Elijah won, chapter 19 is a totally opposite. Here we can see a totally defeated Prophet Elijah, he was threatened by Jezebel, he knew he was the only one left among the prophets of God, he was alone without a bodyguard and a wanted guy out in the desert.
He was only fed by the raven because he was so tired of his journey as he went away from the armies of Queen Jezebel and King Ahab. He was so tired that he said to God to kill him right away because he was no good compared to his ancestors. He was like a crying baby and totally forgot the miracles and victories in Mount Carmel because he was so afraid and down.
Are we like the Prophet Elijah that after many victories in life we suddenly forgot and left every God’s promise to us because of our current situations in life? One of the many reasons why we are drained and dry it’s because we left and forgot the importance of the Word of God in our lives. One of the symptoms of spiritual dryness is that when the Word of God becomes normal word to us without its conviction and power to us anymore.
Look at the special experience of Prophet Elijah from God. He asked Elijah a question in verse 9 “What are you doing here Elijah? As if God is allowing Elijah to recall the very reason why he is hiding where in fact the power of God is on him! Did God sometimes asked us a question to us asking, what are you doing now, what happened to you? And then we answered God just like Elijah having a pity-party with our emotions. “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” Truly Elijah totally forgot his potentials from God.
So God appeared to him on a strong wind as he stand outside the cave, but God was not on the wind. Then He appeared to him in an earthquake but again God was not there. After the earthquake, God appeared to him on a fire but again God’s presence was not on the fire. But after that, God came as a gentle whisper. We can see here that God wanted to display again to Elijah his awesome power, a power that is not knew to him, in fact Elijah had this power because God anointed him to be that way.
Look at 1 Kings 19:13-14 13 “When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
Have you noticed that he pulled his cloak over his face? We all know that the anointing and power of God in Elijah lies on his cloak. That action refreshed Elijah and recharged him because of God’s power over his face. The fact that God gave Elijah new orders means that he was assigned to do new tasks.
What we need to overcome dryness in our lives is to hear again and do the calling of God in our lives.
James 1:22-24 22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
We can easily forget God’s Word if we are not doers of it and only hearers of it.
4. We must not be Hard to forgive others.
Who can remember John Mark in the life of Paul? We remember that the family of John Mark plays a vital role in the life of the early believers. We saw in the believers gather in the house of John Mark when Peter was miraculously freed in Acts 12:11-13. Then because of John Mark special relationship with Barnabas and Paul, they got him to a mission to Antioch in Acts 12:25. From there, Paul and Barnabas were sent to Cyrus, bringing John Mark along with them as an assistant. (Acts 13:1–5) But somewhere along the way, John Mark decides that he’s had enough. After sailing to Perga, Acts tells us matter-of-factly that John left them there and returned to Jerusalem. (v. 13). Essentially, he quit when the going got rough.
Somehow, John Mark left the group of Paul because of immaturity. However, when Barnabas later suggests to Paul that they go get John Mark, Paul refuses. Such a strong disagreement arises between the two that Barnabas and Paul separate. These two men who had been on multiple mission trips together are so divided over young John Mark that they will no longer work together. (Acts 15:36–41).
Did we ever had disagreements over a very simple case and we settled it wrongly because of our immaturity or immaturity of others? Sometimes this is also one of the causes of being drained and dry because of our unforgiveness towards others.
Look how God dealt with Paul over the fault and mistakes of John Mark especially during times of Paul when he is in prison and in trials. Look at Colossians 4:10-11 that says…
10My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) 11Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my co-workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me.
Should Paul be hard to John Mark after the split of his co-worker and the cousin of John Mark Barnabas, he should not be in comfort at that time. This means Paul allowed John Mark to be in the ministry again where he left and somehow a source of refreshment to Paul.
Friends, we may have disagreements in the past with our brothers and sisters, but because God is not yet finish yet with all of us, He will make sure that our immaturity will not be a limitation for us to serve God even more.
5. We must be Hungry again for His presence
King David has always a perfect relationship with God. He said once in Psalm 42:1-3 “1As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. 2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God? 3My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
Only the hungry and thirsty like King David will be filled and be refreshed by God because David was so bold to ask for it.
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
Isaiah 55:1 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”
John 6:33-35 “For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Church, if we want to be refreshed and be recharged, start looking for God’s presence again in our lives. It is the level of our hunger and thirst that God will be able to start operating again in our lives.
Conclusion:
There is a warning on the last days in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
We don’t want to be part of the new normal that is having a form of godliness yet we deny the power of it. We deny the power to be refreshed and be recharged. Let us be honest, humble, hearers of God’s voice and not hard to forgive others and lastly, be hungry for God. These will enable us to be refreshed and be recharged during this so called “new normal syndrome”.
