Mike Spaulding
Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.[1]—Jesus Christ
Weariness has become epidemic in America. The mental and physical exhaustion being suffered is evident on the faces of a great number of people nearly every day. Webster’s Dictionary defines weariness as: The state of being weary or tired; that lassitude or exhaustion of strength which is induced by labor; fatigue.[2]
Lassitude as used by Webster in the definition of weariness above means: uneasiness proceeding from continued waiting, disappointed expectation or exhausted patience, or from other cause.[3]
When I read “or from other cause” I paused. Certainly, unfulfilled expectations can weary you, as can unexpected events that bring with them negative results. Patience can be exhausted resulting in weariness and depleted strength or stamina to continue to persevere while waiting for a desired outcome.
However, when I read “or from other cause” my mind went immediately to weariness of the soul. What I see happening today in America especially in the individual lives of Christians is weariness of the soul.
This raises the question of cause. Webster’s defines weariness as resulting from labor, fatigue, disappointed expectation, or exhausted patience. These are all true causes of weariness, but I believe the issue goes much deeper than that. Weariness of the soul is the result of battling the evil of our times and not seeing any noticeable victory.
There is no denying that the days in which we live have become dark, wicked, and filled with evil events and daily news reports related to them. Mass shootings, human trafficking masked as immigration, famous pedophiles being exposed and then “suicided” in order to protect those whom they serviced, Satanic worshippers reveling in their Baphomet statue displays at state capitol buildings, Drag Queen Story Hour normalizing homosexuality and pedophilia to children too young to even know or prevent what is happening to them, and the LGBTQ propaganda machine, which I refer to as “Big Gay”, winning victory after victory in our institutions and corporations aided and abetted by local, state, and Federal governments. These are some of the causes of the weariness of the soul so widespread in America.
More troubling than all of this is the acquiescence of some churches and entire denominations to the wickedness described above. It seems that rather than battle evil that seeks to destroy them, these churches and their leadership would rather bend the knee to outright falsehoods, Scripture twisting, and abominable behavior, choosing to accept as normal and loving what God has stated is anything but that.
Evil is rampant and seems to be winning the battle for the heart and soul of America because Christians in large number are neglecting their call. Proverbs 25:26 rightly describes them:
Like a trample spring and a polluted well, is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.
Wicked people strut about across this land, arrogantly spewing forth their vile language, hatred of every good and pure thing, attempting to tear down every institution that dares to stand against their onslaught of evil. Violence has risen in our land, perpetrated by malevolent people who hire the dregs and useful idiots of our society to do their bidding.
It is indeed wearying to the soul to see behaviors that lead to physical and emotional disease and illness become Cause Celebre. Law enforcement organizations at several levels have become ensnared in fortifying this behavior such that the deviants are protected and allowed to continue their ungodly and often violent behavior publicly.
Those who have the courage to stand against them publicly are harassed and even threatened by law enforcement officials. Wickedness that is celebrated as good and natural and protected by law is a sign that a society has been corrupted to its very core. That is why we see justice being turned on its head.
What should the response of the righteous be? Should Christians abandon the culture to its just demise? Should God’s ambassadors walk away from the battlefield and allow the enemy to sweep away the few remaining resistors to his evil schemes and plans?
Weariness is often born upon a belief that God knows but doesn’t care. We often ask the question, “Where are you God?” What we mean by that is, “Why aren’t you responding to the evil all around us?”
At a time like this we must press in ever more intimately to our Father. We must dedicate ourselves to a complete surrender to Him. If we desire to see righteousness prevail and revival to sweep our land we must be willing to forsake everything, exchanging what we are for what the Father wants us to be.
We see a picture of this in Matthew’s Gospel. Here is what we read in 9:35-38.
35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
Doesn’t this describe much of the church today? Take note of two words in verse 36: distressed and dispirited. The people were weary and had given up hope. This motivated Jesus to continue to heal every kind of disease and sickness, as well as deliver everyone He encountered from the bondage of demons (see Matthew 9:32-33).
I find Jesus’ response to the heart condition of the people of His day encouraging and convicting. Matthew records that “He (Jesus) felt compassion.” Jesus looked upon the people and His heart was moved to help them. Please also notice a qualifier that Matthew states as the source for Jesus’ compassion: “He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”
The people were weary because they had no shepherd. The people had no one to lead them in the way of righteousness. They had no one to point them in the right direction and encourage them as Paul did to follow him as he followed Christ.
Friends, if we desire to see things change in America those of us who understand the call of God upon our lives, must lead the way. Isn’t that the meaning of Matthew 9:37-38? Jesus felt compassion upon the people because they had no one to encourage them and show them the way of righteousness. The people did not know what kingdom living looked like. So, Jesus says press into the Father by faith and “beseech” Him to send out workers into the harvest.
Beseech means to “entreat; to supplicate; to implore; to ask or pray with urgency.” The days in which we live demand that we entreat, implore, and pray earnestly. But this type of prayer and entreating of our Father must be accompanied by our willing submission to Him to do with us as He desires.
Asking the Father to send out workers into note, HIS harvest, may mean He sends you. Are you ready to go? Or, have you become entangled in so much of the world that you offer up a litany of excuses why He should send someone else?
One of my favorite hymns begins with these words:
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see,
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
However, it is the last stanza that grabs my attention every time. It says:
His word shall not fail you, He promised;
Believe Him and all will be well;
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
There it is in perfect rhyme! His word, “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” shall not fail to accomplish all that He intends. Go therefore into a world that is dying, that is shepherdless, and that is distressed, despairing, and dispirited and tell them about Jesus Christ, the perfect, spotless, Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
The antidote to Proverbs 25:26 stated above concerning the righteous giving way to the wicked is located in the preceding verse. Proverbs 25:25 says this: “Like cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a distant land.”
Friends, the Good News is that Jesus Christ saves! He saves to the uttermost every man, woman, and child that comes to Him in faith, asking that He receive them, and cleanse them of their sin. That is the message we must take into the fields of harvest within America.
The day is coming when the harvest will be over. The souls of every man, woman, and child will be accounted for one day and then He returns. Are you ready? Do you know Jesus Christ by faith? If not, why not today? Simply confess your sin and ask Him to forgive you. Then seek to follow Him and learn from Him.
For more information please contact me at the email below.
God bless you today as you seek Him!
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E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg
Footnotes:
[1] Matthew 11:28.
[2] Webster’s 1828 Dictionary online at https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/Weariness
[3] Ibid.
