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Weary Warriors, Fainting Saints
How You Can Outlast Every Attack of the Enemy
By Joyce Meyer Harrison House
Copyright © 1997 Joyce Meyer
All right reserved. ISBN: 157794027X
Chapter One
GOD IS NEVER LATE, AND HE USUALLY ISN'T EARLY! Tired, Busy and Moving Fast
When we ask people how they are these days, usually the answer is, "Tired!" or, "Busy!" When I asked what the lifestyle was like in one city, the answer was, "Fast!"
The word "weary" means "faint," "worn out," "1. Tired: fatigued. 2. Exhausted of tolerance or patience." It can also be associated with sickness: "... the common accompaniment of 'sickness"' is "weariness of mind ... which not infrequently hinders physical recovery ..."
Satan is working hard to wear us out. He wants us to faint, be sick at heart and sick in our body. Many people who have no peace of mind, who live in a state of worry can become physically sick from weariness of mind - just from being worn out in their mind. So many people are worn out today, there are even fatigue diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome.
"Faint" "denotes (a) 'to loose, release,' ... (b) 'to unloose,' as a bow-string, 'to relax....'" People who "faint" feel like giving up. Some Christians decide to quit several times a week, but pick themselves up, deciding, again, to go on with God.
Why would you think that you're going to give up and quit? What else would you do?
What else would we do besides serve God? For most of us, what we were doing before receiving the Lord wasn't working. Why would we want to quit and go back to that?
Once when I was having one of my give-up days, I decided to quit. I had been going around saying, "I'm so tired of this. God, I'm so tired of this." I didn't even know exactly what it was I was so tired of.
Then I changed for a while to saying, "I'm trying so hard. God. I'm trying, but nothing's changing." Finally, I said, "That's it. I just give up, God. I can't do this any more; I quit."
I got really dramatic about it - down on the floor on my knees, like in one of those old movies, crying, "Help me, God. Nobody loves me. And I'm trying so hard. I give up - I just quit"
And this is what I heard the Holy Spirit inside me say to me in response - He said, "Really? Really?" Then He began teaching me something very important.
A Good Type of Quitting
The only time the Holy Spirit gets to do anything for us is when we quit trying to do something in our own works long enough to let Him work. I had actually come to a type of believing. I had reached the end of my rope and was expressing my total dependence on the Lord.
I was saying:
"I can't do anything without you, Lord. I can't change myself, my husband or my kids. I can't make prosperity come to me or force a healing on my body. I can't make my ministry grow. I can't force myself to be nice. I've tried to be quiet. Every time instead I talk more than I ever have in my life. I've tried to think positive thoughts, and I have two negative thoughts instead of one."
In the midst of all our human trying, we forget to believe. We often tell God how hard we're trying when the Bible tells us if we will just believe God, He will give us His rest. (Hebrews 3:18,19; 4:9-11.)
The Bible doesn't tell us to try to do everything on our own; it tells us to believe. And it tells us to wait on the Lord
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary; there is no searching of His understanding.
He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound].
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted;
But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired. (Emphasis mine.) Isaiah 40:28-31
Waiting for the Lord Renews Our Strength
The first reason people can grow weary and faint is from functioning in their own strength rather than waiting on the Lord to renew their strength. The Bible plainly tells us if we don't spend time waiting on the Lord, we will faint. He wants us to stay in Him so that we can run and not get weary, walk and not faint. He wants us to do everything He tells us to do and still have energy.
Waiting on the Lord is an inner heart attitude we develop of, "God, I cannot do anything apart from You." This attitude says, "I'm waiting on You, Lord, all day long. I'm looking to you for what I need: for the wisdom, strength, energy I need and for the anointing to be released through me."
Don't ever think because you have done something well in the past that you can do it well again. Without dependence on God, you can fall flat on your face at any time.
Anointing increases from waiting, depending and leaning on God like a helpless child, saying, "God help me. I need You; I can't do this without You." Until we learn this dependency on God for help and direction, we will be worn out all the time - weary warriors and fainting saints.
God's flow of energy will not freely come to us until we understand that the humble are the ones who receive help. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time (1 Peter 5:6 KJV). (Emphasis mine.)
Wait On the Lord for the Due Season
The King James Version of Galatians 6:9 says, And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
The Lord promises to bring the harvest, the answers we are waiting for, in due season. Because we don't know exactly when due season will be, many believers grow weary during the wait! They think, "Did I miss my appointment?" The Bible promises that God will never be late, but it doesn't tell us that He usually is early either!
Many times He is the God of the midnight hour. He is stretching our faith and teaching us to believe Him for greater things. Believing brings us right into the middle of God's rest. And during the wait our strength is renewed if we wait in faith instead of fear and frustration.
The type of believing that brings us rest when we are waiting for the Lord is this: "God, I believe You are smarter than I am and that You have a better plan than I do! I believe Your timing and Your ways are better than mine because Your thoughts are above my thoughts " (Isaiah 55:9.)
We must realize that God's timing is more accurate than ours will ever be. This will free us to abandon ourselves to God and say, "Lord, I would like to see the circumstances happening this way, but that doesn't seem to be happening. I'm not going to live my life in frustration from struggling to try to do something about something I can't do anything about or trying to make something happen that I'm obviously not making happen.
"I surrender. I give my idea, my timing, my wants and desires to You. Do what You want to do, the way You want, when You want. And I'm going to rest!"
"Fainthearted" means "small-souled." Because the soul is often defined as the mind, will and emotions, someone who is fainthearted can't mentally handle very much of a problem or challenge coming against them without caving in, wanting to quit and giving up. It isn't very long before they become discouraged, depressed and negative.
When we wait on the Lord and He renews our strength, we become the kind of people the devil can't wear out. We can outlast the devil's attacks, standing against them until we receive the manifestation of our victory in due season.
John 11 gives the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, exclaimed, But Lord, by this time he [is decaying and] throws off an offensive odor, for he has been dead four days! Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you and promise you that if you would believe and rely on Me, you would see the glory of God? John 11:39,40
If there are circumstances in your life that have been dead for so long they smell bad, take a simple, childlike stand and believe: "I don't know what God will do, but I believe He will do something."
Take Off the Grave Clothes
So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
Yes, I know You always hear and listen to Me, but I have said this on account of and for the benefit of the people standing around, so that they may believe that You did send Me [that You have made Me Your Messenger].
When He had said this, He shouted with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out!
And out walked the man who had been dead, his hands and feet wrapped in burial cloths (linen strips), and with a [burial] napkin bound around his face. Jesus said to them, Free him of the burial wrappings and let him go. John 11:41-44
In His prayer, Jesus thanked God that He always heard and listened to Him, a simple confident prayer. When we pray, we can always know God is hearing us.
After praying, Jesus called out in a loud voice and commanded Lazarus to come forth from the tomb. When Lazarus came out of the tomb, he was still bound up. Jesus ordered that his grave clothes be removed from him and that he be set free. Many people who are born again are still bound up in grave clothes from the past.
No matter how long we have been in dead circumstances, when Jesus rolls away the stone and says, "Come out," that's a brand new beginning. The Lord wants us to cast off our grave clothes and come out of our tomb, free from the restraints of the past and anything else that drains our strength like worry, fear, negativism, etc.
Instead of meditating on our problems, we can keep our minds and hearts focused on the Lord, trusting ourselves and our situation to God, in simple, childlike faith, waiting patiently for Him to act. If we will do that, He has promised we will witness the mighty manifestation of his glory - in due time, at the appointed season.
Continues...
Excerpted from Weary Warriors, Fainting Saints by Joyce Meyer Copyright © 1997 by Joyce Meyer. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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