Weary Christian, Rebuild in the Strength of God

There might be nothing more disheartening than feeling like you have regressed in your walk with the Lord. For those of us who feel like we aren’t as spiritually strong today as we were yesterday, God has encouragement for us in His Word.

Many Christians find that when they first start following Jesus, their enthusiasm for God is high and their hunger to know His Word is insatiable. But then, after a while, that hunger begins to fade. The grace that was once amazing and extraordinary begins to seem quite ordinary or mundane. If we are self-aware about this transition, you and I might begin to feel guilty and discouraged. We might look back on the days when following Jesus felt like an adventure, longing for that spark that woke us up early to read Scripture and kept us up late reading Christian books or listening to podcasts, consuming any kind of content that would teach us more about the God we longed to know. We may feel like our best days are behind us. If that’s where you are today, you have a lot in common with God’s people in the Old Testament. 

A Time for Rebuilding

In the book of Ezra, God’s people begin to rebuild the temple that was destroyed when they were exiled from Jerusalem. When they laid the foundation of the second temple, their shout of joy was so loud that the sound was heard from far away. But was it really a shout of joy?

“And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.” (Ezra 3:11b-13 ESV)

For those who were seeing the foundations of a temple for the first time, this moment was a moment for celebration. They were singing the Lord’s praises and rejoicing. All they had known was exile, and so laying the foundation of the temple was a culmination of God’s promises both in their lives and in the world. On the other hand, the older people who had seen the first temple, Solomon’s temple, could not stop themselves from weeping. Those who had seen the glory of the first temple knew that the second temple would never measure up. The way that God was working in the present was nowhere near as majestic as it had been in the past. Just like you and me, God’s people were looking back on better days and feeling discouraged about their present state.

The Day of Small Things

What does God have to say to discouraged people? What does God have to say to those who feel like they have regressed, like their best days following Jesus on this earth are behind them? To those of us who feel like their faith today is smaller than it was yesterday, God tells us not to despise the day of small things. In the midst of their exile, God gives His discouraged people a message of hope. Zechariah was prophet during the time when God’s people were rebuilding, and in Zechariah 4 he gets a vision of the future rebuilt temple and gives this message to the people: 

“Whoever has despised the day of small things will rejoice.” (Zechariah 4:10b) 

God sees our discouragement and promises that he will turn that discouragement to rejoicing. So how did God’s people in the Old Testament respond to this prophecy? In Ezra 6, the people of God respond to the ministry of Haggai and Zechariah by finishing the building of the temple and dedicating it with joy. The once-despairing people of Israel were now celebrating.

In Zechariah, God promised that the temple would be built and that everyone would rejoice, including those who were discouraged. That promise came true. Despite opposition from external saboteurs and doubt from those who were nostalgic about the good old days, the oft-discouraged people of God banded together to build the temple and dedicate it to the Lord. They believed his promise, walked by faith in obedience, and watched as God brought them to fruition.

If you are feeling like your best days spiritually are behind you, do not despise the day of small things. Be honest with God about your spiritual lethargy. Admit that you are feeling nostalgic for the former days, and trust Him to work even in the day of small things. If you cannot come to God with passion and joy, come to God in faith for passion and joy, trusting that God will provide them for you as you draw near to Him. Our weakness and frailty do not disqualify us, it is actually in our weakness that His power is made perfect (2 Corinthians 12:9). When we come to the end of ourselves, we can truly say along with Zechariah that “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:7). We did not begin our Christian lives, in all of its excitement and newness, by our own strength. We will not persevere to the end in joy by our own strength. Let your weakness and lethargy drive you to further day-by-day and moment-by-moment dependence on God for strength to persevere.

The Cross Secured Our Hope

How can we know for sure that God will fulfill His promise to us? God’s past actions ensure his future faithfulness. The Israelites rebuilt the temple, but there would soon come a day when that temple would be destroyed. You and I need more than a facility built by human hands to have lasting joy and communion with God. When Jesus died on the cross for our sin, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated God from all that would trust in Him. When He rose from the dead, he purchased an unshakeable future for us that is worth staking our lives on. Look back and remember that in Christ your future is unspeakably bright. The God who started this good work in you will bring it to fruition at the day of Christ, when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Weary Christian, this is the God whom you serve. Rebuild in His strength today as you envision this glorious future.