State of Exhaustion

Last week our family traveled to Nashville to tour colleges as our daughter (Dakota) is in the process of making important decisions regarding her future. We toured three universities, received tons of information, asked questions, and ate their cafeteria food.  As we toured the schools Dakota developed opinions about each of them; whether it be the living quarters, quality of the food, impression of the professors, or simply the look of the campus.  At the end of each day, we talked about the experience, made a pros/cons list, and prepared for the next visit.  This adventure was fun, but it was extremely exhausting. I can only speak for myself in that, but I know that my family was showing signs of exhaustion as well. Each day would start with the stress of getting out of the hotel on time, checking the traffic to navigate a city we didn’t know, and trying to find the right building to check in at.  During each day we heard about the wonderful things each school has to offer, as well as things like required courses for specific degree paths and the price tags that accompany them. Does it sound like we were having fun yet? We have walked this journey before with our oldest daughter, so we are familiar with the process, but that didn’t seem to make it any less overwhelming.

In reflection as a parent with information overload and important decisions needing to be made with Dakota about her future, I began to think about this adventure we are all in as a church. In a similar way, after facing and overcoming many challenges up to this point, the church now has important decisions to make about its future. Decisions that can be stressful and a process that can be exhausting. A lot of new information is being shared, and it can be easy to feel overloaded and overwhelmed by it all. Yet we cannot be effective and do what God wants us to do if we let those feelings take hold. The good news is, we are not alone in this process. In addition to our church staff and family, we have the Creator of the universe as a comforter and guide. We need to take in this new information, sit with the Lord in reflection and prayer, and ultimately make the changes He has called us to make.

As we go through this process we may look back at where we have been as a church and want to simply repeat the “good old days”; just as a child going off to college may want their college experience to seem familiar to their high school experience. Yet God’s people have been called since the beginning to not stay in one place, to move forward and be the change that the desperate and hurting people around them need.  It is our time to take in the information and pray, make the necessary changes in our hearts and our church, and then build His kingdom.  Will you join me this week in a prayer of repentance and restoration from that state of exhaustion and overload?  I found a description of repentance this week in a parenting devotional. I try to find the humor in most things and I find that when I read anything about parenting I usually find a way to parent myself! The definition really resonated with me in connection to where we are as a church and where we need to move forward.

“To repent means to be convinced of another way, to change your mind or convictions. And in response, to be convinced in your mind and heart, changing your actions. Repentance means turning from going your own way to going God’s way.” –Gentle Christian Parenting. We may all be exhausted with trying to keep things the way they were, or even worrying about what is to come, but if we are praying for a change of mind and heart God will remove that exhausted state and point us to His plans, not our own.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Blessings,

Pastor Hope Terhaar