Tired of God?

Today’s Passage – Isaiah 41 – 43 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text)

(Second Milers also read – John 9 – 10 ; Psalms 36 – 40; Proverbs 8)

“But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.” (Isaiah 43:22)

“Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.” (Isaiah 43:24)

I often use the phrase, “sick and tired”. I frequently say that I am sick and tired about this, or sick and tired about that. We read the phrase in Isaiah 43:22, “thou hast been weary of me”; and then again in v 24, “thou hast wearied me”. It sounds to me like the people were saying that they were sick and tired of God; and then God was saying that He was sick and tired of their sin.

This passage was written referring to Israel. I am not quite sure if in this particular reference the term Israel is used for just the northern kingdom, or if it refers corporately to the entire 12 tribes. At any case, the first several verses imply that God had an unconditional love for this people even though they had rebelled against Him over and over again in their history. There were times when they loved and served God; and then there were times when they were “sick and tired”.

Can you identify with the people of Israel? I know we don’t like to think that we could be rebellious like them; but did you ever get sick and tired of God? I don’t know if you would admit to being tired of God, but how about being tired of the things of God? Did you ever get sick and tired of going to all of the church services? Did you ever get sick and tired of reading your Bible, or listening to the same preacher preach the same message over and over again, or praying, or perhaps all of the standards; etc. I have. But then I remember that though God gets sick and tired of my sin, He never gets sick and tired of me. I am reminded that God loves me unconditionally, and that causes me to be refreshed and revived in my love and devotion for Him. It’s normal to go through some periods of time where the Christian life gets a lttle “blah”, but don’t allow yourself to get to the point where you just dread serving God. Get out of the rut, and get back to where you were when the Christian life was exciting and fresh. Perhaps you just need to encourage yourself in the Lord, as David did; but whatever you do, don’t quit, because if you do, your “sick and tired” condition will only get worse. Pray about it; stay in the Book until you get a nugget of truth from God; make a difference in someone else’s life; listen to some motivational and encouraging preaching; get counsel from a spiritual friend; do whatever it takes to get yourself back up again. We all need to be revived at times in our spiritual walk.