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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoyed today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with a friend? We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. God bless you. It's a joy to be with you. If you're ever in our area, please stop by. I promise you, we'll make you feel right at home.
I like to start with something funny and I heard about these three sisters ages 96, 94 and 92 that lived together. One day, the 96 year old draws a bath. She puts one foot in and stops. She hollers downstairs. I can't remember if I was getting in or getting out. The 94 year old said, just a second, I'll come up and help you. She gets halfway up the stairs and stops.
She says, I can't remember if I was going up or coming down. The 92 year old shook her head and said boy. I hope I never get that forgetful. She knocked on wood for good luck Then she said hang on i'll come help both of you as soon as I see who's at the door That's going to be none of us in Jesus' name. Say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am.
I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today, I will be taught the Word of God. I boldly confess my mind is alert. My heart is receptive. I will never be the same in Jesus' name. God bless you. I want to talk to you today about overcoming weariness. As we go through life, one challenge we all have to face is with weariness. It's easy to get tired.
Weary means to lose your sense of pleasure, to not feel the enjoyment that you should. You can be raising great children, but because you're weary, you're not enjoying them. You can have the job of your dreams. You worked hard to get it, but now weariness has set in. You're not passionate about it anymore. Sometimes, because the battle is taking longer than we thought, we become weary.
Talked to a lady recently. She was in town at MD Anderson, the cancer hospital, hoping that this would be her last round of treatment. She found out she has to take it for six more months. She was very disappointed. She said, I don't think I can deal with this anymore. When the difficulty is lasting longer than expected, we're working hard, but not seeing increase.
We're believing for the baby, but year after year goes by. We're still not pregnant. Weariness will come. If the enemy can't take you out all at once, his next strategy is to try to wear you down. Many people are suffering from battle fatigue. They've been standing a long time trying to break the addiction, believing for the promotion, praying for that family member, but hasn't happened yet.
They never dreamed they'd still be single, still be dealing with the illness, still be trying to get the loan. Now they're tired. Paul said in Galatians, don't get weary in well-doing. God knew weariness would come or he wouldn't tell us not to get weary. He said, don't be weary in well-doing. That means you're doing the right thing, but not seeing right results.
Doesn't seem like it's making a difference. Let me encourage you. Your time is coming. Your due season is on the way. Don't let time talk you out of it. Don't let discouragement cause you to give up. Don't let negative thoughts convince you to settle where you are. Your mind will give you good excuses. Things like, I'm too tired to fight this addiction. I'm too tired to believe for my marriage.
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Chapter 2: What does Joel Osteen say about overcoming weariness?
Thought, God, what's the use? I'm doing the right thing. This man tries to take my life. Instead, he kept telling himself, David, don't get weary in well-doing. He understood this principle. When you give into weariness, you lose your strength.
When you start thinking it's not fair, it's been so long, it's never going to work out, the energy you need to move into your destiny is being drained out. I'm not asking you to never feel weariness. It will come. I'm asking you to not allow it in. When you're weary, you won't have the passion, the determination, the courage to fight the good fight of faith.
Don't let battle fatigue keep you from your victory. Don't let weariness stop your dream from coming to pass.
Chapter 3: How can weariness affect our enjoyment of life?
You are closer than you think. When it's the most difficult, you face the greatest temptation to settle. That means the victory is near. The promotion, the healing, the breakthrough is about to show up. See, the prophet Samuel had anointed David to be the next king when he was a teenager. 13 years had gone by. There was no sign of it happening.
And one day David and 600 of his men returned from a battle and found their city had been attacked and destroyed. All their possessions were burned. Their families were kidnapped. It was the worst defeat of David's life, his darkest hour. The scripture says they wept until they could not weep anymore. David was depressed, discouraged. I'm sure he was tempted to thank God. This is the final straw.
I've been doing the right thing for years. I can't take it anymore. I'm done. He could have given up and that would have been the end of his story. He would have never taken the throne. But when David was tired, when he felt like throwing in the towel, he did something that we all must do. He dug his heels in and said, I've come too far to stop now.
The scripture says David encouraged himself in the Lord, his God. He made this decision. I'm not allowing this weariness in. I'm going to stir my faith back up. While the other men were weeping, discouraged, complaining, I can hear David saying, I'm strong in the Lord. I'm anointed. I'm well able. The forces that are for me are greater than the forces that are against me.
You can talk yourself into defeat or you can talk yourself into victory. You can talk yourself into weakness or you can talk yourself into strength. When you speak to yourself the right way, courage comes, determination comes, vision comes. Every time you say, this is too hard, strength is leaving. I can't do this anymore, you're getting weaker. I'm so disappointed, I can't believe this happened.
You're inviting discouragement. When you say, I am well able, you're inviting strength. I can do all things through Christ, you're inviting favor. You may feel tired, but don't verbalize it. Don't give life to it by speaking it out. The scripture says, let the weak say, I am strong. Doesn't say let the weak talk about the weakness. Let the sick talk about the sickness.
Let the disappointed talk about the bad break. No, turn it around. Yes, this is tough, but I am strong in the Lord. I know God is fighting my battles. He always causes me to triumph.
Amen.
That's what it means to take hold of his strength. Isaiah put it this way. If you'll wait on the Lord, God will renew your strength. You will mount up with wings like eagles. You will run and not be weary. You will walk and not faint. Now, wait on the Lord doesn't mean to sit back, passive, idle. Okay, God, I'm tired. I'm worn out. Do your thing.
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Chapter 4: What strategies can help combat feelings of weariness?
Renew my strength. That word wait in one translation says those who look for God's goodness, who expect his favor, who long for his blessing. Waiting is supposed to be active. Lord, thank you that you're turning this situation around. Thank you that you're bigger than this cancer, stronger than these opponents. Lord, thank you for bringing my dreams to pass.
You won't soar with the eagles if you're negative in your thinking. You won't run and not be weary if you're focused on your problems and how impossible it is. What causes your strength to be renewed is when you live with this expectancy. You have this hope that God is working in your life.
This knowing that he's in control, that he can open doors that no man can shut, that he will get you to where you're supposed to be. When you get your mind going in the right direction, God will give you rest. You don't have to go through life weary. Nothing that's happened to you has stopped God's plan for your life. Like David, it may be taking a long time.
You may have had some setbacks, but God is still on the throne. He knows how to get you to your destiny. David not only stirred himself up, he got his men stirred back up. They went out and attacked the enemy and recovered everything that had been stolen. Three days later, King Saul was killed in a battle and David took the throne.
That was some 13 years after he had been anointed to be the next king. My point is, David was closest to seeing the promise come to pass when he faced his greatest challenge. When it seems like everything's coming against you, it's taken a long time. Now you have this new problem. The medical report wasn't good. Business went down. The situation at work intensified. Stay encouraged.
That's a sign that the victory is near. Things are about to turn around. The breakthrough is on the way. Don't get weary in well-doing. May not happen overnight. You have to do like David and be in it for the long haul. Those 13 years, David waited for the promise. He had to deal with battle fatigue. Don't you know thoughts told him, David, it's never going to happen.
You wouldn't have these challenges if you were going to take the throne. Weariness came knocking at his door again and again. The reason he saw the promise fulfilled was was not because he never felt weary, not because he was superhuman. He was never tempted to be tired and discouraged. It was because he didn't allow the weariness in.
When you've been in a battle a long time, you have to especially be on guard. It's easy to get discouraged and think, I'm tired of standing strong. I'm tired of fighting this illness. I'm tired of believing for my dreams. When you feel that weariness, Instead of giving in, learn to look up and say, God, I'm asking you to renew my strength. When you do, you'll feel strength coming to you.
God will breathe new life back into your spirit. You may be tired today. You've been dealing with a challenge in your health, a relationship, in your finances for years. You used to believe that you would overcome, but now you're worn down. You don't think it's ever going to happen. Let me encourage you. What God promised, He's still going to bring to pass.
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Chapter 5: How does the story of David illustrate resilience against weariness?
That legal problem, that situation in your finances may look like it's permanent, but it's just a matter of time before God turns it around. Don't let weariness talk you out of it. May be taking a long time, but like David, the promise is on the way. If you'll stay in faith, God will not only renew your strength, he'll renew your health, renew your marriage, renew your business.
He'll make a way where you don't see a way. First Kings chapter 18, the prophet Elijah had just called down fire from heaven and defeated 450 of the false prophets that worship the God Baal. They were all killed. It was a great victory in Elijah's life. But there was a lady that lived there by the name of Jezebel. When she heard what happened to her 450 false prophets, she was furious.
She sent word to Elijah saying, if I don't kill you by this time tomorrow, I'm going to take my own life. Elijah was so afraid, he took off running. He ran for a full day into the desert. He ended up sitting under a juniper tree. He was so depressed, he prayed that he would die. He said, God, I'm done. I've had enough. Take my life.
Here's this incredible man of faith, one of the great heroes in the Bible. He's seen God bring a child back to life. Few days earlier, he outran a chariot. He just called down fire from heaven, a great miracle. But now because one angry woman is after him, he doesn't want to live. There's a deeper message there, but I'm smart enough to leave it alone.
He's laying under this tree, depressed, discouraged, doesn't want to go on. An angel appears unto him and wakes him up. Usually when an angel shows up in the scripture, it's to do something supernatural, to open prison doors, to close the mouths of hungry lions, to part red seas. But this angel did something interesting. He said, Elijah, wake up and eat.
Elijah looked over, there was bread cooking on hot coals and a jar of water. Elijah ate the bread and drank the water, went back to sleep. Few hours later, the angel woke him up again, said the same thing, get up and eat. He ate and drank some more. The scripture says being strengthened by that food, he traveled 40 days to his next assignment. His whole attitude had changed.
Why was Elijah discouraged, depressed, not wanting to go on? Because he was tired. He was worn out. He was hungry. He didn't need a miracle. He just needed some sleep. And sometimes when we're weary, it's not a spiritual problem, it's a physical problem. He had just ran 24 hours to try to get away from Jezebel. He just needed some rest, just needed a good meal.
In other words, the angel didn't wake him up and say, be free from your weariness, be healed from this depression. He said, eat this food, drink this water. He was saying, Elijah, take care of yourself. Get back in balance. Too often, we're fighting battles in our mind, no passion, discouraged, not because of the enemy, but because of how we're taking care of ourselves.
You are a three-part being, physical, spiritual, and emotional. You have to take care of all three parts. You can pray 24 hours a day, but you won't feel well physically. Your body needs to be cared for. You can go to the gym, work out five hours a day, seven days a week, but if you're not taking time for your spiritual and emotional side, you're not going to be your best.
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