Ever have those days when you just can’t seem to shake off the blues no matter what you do?  I heard an older deacon call this faith fatigue. He described it as hauling pales of water back and forth from the well to a garden repeatedly, day after day, only to find the earth is never dampened and nothing ever grows. You begin to grow weary from the work for no fruit seems to bloom despite the effort.

Whether we call this spiritual warfare, faith fatigue, or anything else, it’s a real thing. A real experience. We just get worn down at times, but what can we do? Thankfully with Christ, we are never without hope:

Praise: My perspective just gets warped sometimes. I just get my eyes off the big picture. Instead, I start focusing too much on the particular problem and/or pain. This is when it’s so helpful to begin shifting my thoughts to what I’m thankful for. It’s hard to complain when we praise – it may not take the immediate pains away, but it does keep us was dwelling there.

Promises: We can also begin to feel a sense of hopelessness when we focus too much on our problems. We see our intimidating giants instead of our God. However, God’s promises are there to give us hope. For He will never leave, or forsake us. Therefore, we must remind ourselves to what we know rather than what we feel. When this truth takes hold we can begin, like young David did against Goliath – run quickly to meet our challenge in faith.

Prayer: Of course when we begin to worry this is a great reminder and indicator as to what we can begin praying about. We are told not to worry, but this can be hard. However, when we begin praying over those things that cause us to fret, we invite God into our problems which is the wisest move we can make.

Application: “Firm Foundation” – Psalm 42:11

What do we place our hope in? Is it people, money, and/or progress? These things of course will always let us down. However, when we place our hopes in Christ – we stand on a firm foundation that never fails to satisfy and save.