Devotional - 9/16/02
“Willing Spirit - Weak Body”
What do you do when you
know you're supposed to lead worship but you just don't feel like it?
Matthew 26:40-41
(Jesus) returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you not
keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. "Watch and pray so that you
will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
If you think that every time I come to church on Sunday I'm just falling all
over myself to lead worship, guess again. I'm very human, and the more you get
to know me the more you will be able to recognize the subtle clues that I'm not
operating at 100% on a given Sunday. I appreciate the kind words that some of
you express to me when you recognize that I'm distracted, tired, or pulled down,
and hope that over time I can develop the same kind of sensitivity to you.
Surely, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. For me, lately it's been
trying to operate while perpetually sleep-deprived. Our two-year-old has pretty
bad sleep problems, and every strategy we've tried over the last three months
has netted very little gain. So I try to get through most days on 4-5 hours of
sleep that has been broken up at least two times. Not real fun. And with a new
baby on the way, the prospects of a good night's sleep are dwindling even more.
There have been days that I've had to consider not coming in on a Sunday morning
because of colds, flu, and various other maladies. If I recall correctly, only
once have I had to actually miss a Sunday for sickness, so I consider myself
somewhat fortunate in that area.
But when we say "the flesh is weak," we mean more than that. Sometimes we just
don't feel like coming to church or leading worship because of the way we feel
emotionally or spiritually. I'm sure that feelings of emotional and spiritual
weakness were as much to blame for the disciples' lapse at Gethsamene as any
physical fatigue.
And what does the Lord tell us to do at such times? "Watch and pray so that you
will not fall into temptation." Interesting, not a single mention of doctors
here. "Watch," meaning "be vigilant." And we all know what "pray" means. So my
take, not to put too fine a point on it, is that we should suck it up and rely
on the Lord's help. Feeling like we aren't able to fulfill our calling and our
vision is not a valid reason to sideline ourselves. This is why I encourage you
all to stick with the team even through your hardships and trials. For I truly
believe that our service to the Lord together will actually raise our chances of
emerging from whatever maladies and slumps we are facing.
We are sure to experience times of weakness in our bodies. But if our spirits
remain willing, there is hope for us all. May we watch and pray, trusting in the
Lord's power to overcome.
- Dale Haas