When you feel drained

Even when you’re living right and doing all the right things, life can still be draining. We have all received mail addressed simply to “Occupant.” Sometimes you’re drained not because you did anything wrong, but because you happen to “occupy” the planet. The combination of the world, the flesh, and the devil will suck the spiritual vitality right out of you if you let them. You try to pray, but no words come. You know you ought to read your Bible, but when you try to, the letters on the page all run together and none of it makes sense. And you don’t want to listen to spiritual people, especially when you suspect they may be faking their positive viewpoints. You’re just going through the spiritual motions, nodding and saying amen; yet in your soul, you’re running on empty. David, who had been a shepherd, said that God “makes” us lie down. Why? Because just like sheep, we would keep on wandering all over the place and wearing ourselves out. Note two things David said, (1) “He makes me to lie down in green pastures.” The word green means “fresh.” Each day you need a fresh encounter with God through prayer and a fresh intake of His Word. Bread is not the only thing that can go stale; your spiritual life can, too. (2) “He leads me beside the still waters” (v. 2 NKJV). The word still means you need times of quietness and reflection. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). The only way to know God intimately, sense His leading, and draw on His strength is to “be still.”