Today’s guest note comes from a lovely woman named Sue who attends our church with her husband Greg. I look up to this couple so much as examples of keeping the fire alive year after year. They are both so godly, so kind, and so excited about Jesus. Here’s what she shared.
During this 100 day journey, some days have had powerful, impactful, tearful moments. Other days lacked such moments, yet what I've found is I am using this special part of my day as a spiritual offering to the Lord. One morning as I sat quietly with the Lord, a verse came to me: " Every good gift and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." (James 1:17). Odd, as I hadn't been reading or studying James at all. Could it be...God speaking His word and His heart to me?
I didn't have to wait long to find out that yes, this was indeed Him! Later that day, I received an e-mail containing an answer to a prayer. A nine month, prayed for, waited for, trusted in Him prayer. It was the good gift He chose to give me! The best part was the perfect gift given to me which was a Father's presence, a Daddy's words, the Lord's love, and it was found in our early mornings together. Why would I ever want to stop after 100 days? I'm scratching the surface of what is available to me. Thank you, Pastor Scott, for this journey. Sue
The first couple sentences Sue shared really resonate with me in this particular moment. She expressed how some days are tearful and powerful, but other days are not. She said something subtle but very profound—“I am using this special part of my day as a spiritual offering to the Lord.” She was saying in essence that even on days devoid of inspiration she gives the time to the Lord as an offering. This is the casual comment of someone who has matured greatly in her walk with God.
Preparing for Easter
It’s especially relevant to me, and I think most of us, as we experience the after-Easter crash. I’m writing this as the sun is setting on Easter Day. I spent all day yesterday preparing for today and finally fell asleep at midnight. The alarm went off at 6am on this Resurrection Sunday—but I was not ready to rise. Forcing myself up at 6:30 I paced around the house trying to wake up.
I jumped into the shower and started my typical routine of mumbling prayers half asleep which usually perks me up a few notches. The second part of my wake-up routine is coffee—good, strong and black. I only had about an hour in my study this morning because I needed to leave for the service at 8. So I spent half of the time writing prayers and the other half reviewing my Easter sermon. The drive to the church was perfect for earnest intercession for all who would be attending or watching the service today.
Easter exhilaration
It was a stunningly beautiful sunny day for our 9am outdoor service. About 100 people came including many children joyfully running all around. It was so nice to see the kids! I don’t typically project my voice that much while I preach, but being outside competing with cars and sirens, I felt moved to really belt out my gospel message. It sort of echoed off of buildings and shot out into the neighborhoods around the church. It was exhilarating to proclaim “Christ is risen.”
Before and after the service I tried to say hi to as many people as possible. About 9:30 I headed upstairs to begin preparing for the second service which would be another smaller in-person gathering, as well as, the livestream production. I walked up the stairs to the sanctuary pretty exhausted, but the Lord gave me a boost. The musicians opened with about 30 minutes of worship which was like wind under my wings sending me to flight into God’s presence. So good!
I preached my heart out and especially pleaded at the end with people watching who are not yet reconciled to God. The first 20 minutes I stuck to my notes but the last 10 minutes the Holy Spirit took over completely. It’s a holy and awesome thing when the Lord Himself flows through us to speak directly to hearts. After the service my wife and I caught up with several people and somehow ended up being the last to leave.
The crash
On the drive home I rolled back the sunroof and rolled down the windows. I was too depleted to pray but just had a sense of rest in the Lord—as I looked forward to eating! We had a quick Mexican feast—guacamole, pico, rice, jalapeños, black beans, tortillas—yum! Food always tastes better on Easter Day. After eating, even though it’s not my typical Sunday routine, I decided to take a nap for 30 minutes.
Three hours later I woke up feeling like I’d been hit by a bus in my sleep. I sat up and stared at the wall for about a minute. Or ten minutes. Or maybe it was twenty. While I was in slumberland my wife was laboring away in the kitchen making a special Moroccan stew, for her Jesus, but, thankfully, I would also be included in the meal. Easter is quiet this year. Both of our girls are working new jobs, one in Massachusetts and the other in Maryland. So it was just me and my love in the empty nest.
Being human
“Why are you telling us all this, Scott?” Well, I’m determined to show you that deeply spiritual people become completely depleted. Apparently, even Sue has ups and downs. Why don’t we live on a cloud of glory 24-7? Why aren’t we filled with power and inspiration all day every day? Why are we on the mountaintop one day, only to find ourselves in a valley of weakness and depletion the next day?
Because we are human.
It’s part of being human. As they say, “what goes up must come down.” Our spiritual highs are always followed by lows. After experiencing the power of God there is always the inevitable crash afterward. This crash happens for many pastors every Monday. It happens after Christians spend themselves on the mission field for ten days. It happens when we go on a retreat or to a worship conference. Our church occasionally creates massive art installations to communicate the gospel that take months to put together. Once it’s over there is a certain spiritual depletion that comes over the artists.
Relax
Now listen, especially you younger Christians. One of the most important things you can learn is to relax in your crash experience. Maybe you went on a three day prayer retreat and experienced the power and presence of God in a way you never have in your life. Maybe the Lord even spoke a word to you about your future. Maybe on the last night of the retreat you really broke down weeping and experienced deep cleansing. Praise God! But ...
What happens is that when we feel spiritual depletion on Monday we start questioning if we were really transformed at the retreat. Don’t do that. Just relax. Rest. Eat and sleep and just be quiet. The days of depletion are not only okay, but they are orchestrated by the Lord to keep us humble and reflective.
Emptiness
I’ve been mainly using the word “depletion” to describe this but another word that is fitting is “emptiness.” We need to realize something about emptiness: humans have a strong aversion to it. When we feel empty we naturally scramble to fill the emptiness as quickly as we can. It might be tv and social media, shopping or sports. It might be food and especially sugary foods. These aren’t necessarily sinful but in times of emptiness Christians are very susceptible to temptations to drink too much, to consume pornography, to abuse drugs, to fall into lust and sexual sin, and so on. So be on your guard!
I’m not saying it’s easy, but in your crash learn to stay the course. Just like Sue does, focus on being an offering to the Lord. We need to learn to be okay with emptiness. Instead of trying to fill ourselves with whatever we can find to make us feel better, we need to learn to embrace the empty feeling and, by faith, please the Lord. What I’ve learned is that when I am quietly faithful and worship the Lord in my weakness, the Lord is greatly pleased. Our times of depletion and emptiness are actually opportunities to glorify God. And surprise! When we focus on pleasing the Lord we find our hearts wonderfully content.
So if you are experiencing a little Easter hangover today—turn it into a day of quiet worship. Don’t pressure yourself to pray hard or to expend yourself spiritually. Allow yourself to replenish. You may not have a lot to say to the Lord. It’s okay. I’m just going to tell Him in the morning that I’m tired and ask Him to carry me around. Good fathers always do that for tired children.