Exhausted But Still in Pursuit
Tony Schachle
Bold as a Lion • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 24 viewsAre you exhausted? We can find ourselves exhausted mentally, physically, spiritually, or even all of the above! There are so many things we face every day that can be overwhelming like inflation, politics, wars and rumors of wars, drama at work, at home, or at church, heath issues, and just the busyness of life. Trying to process all of this can be exhausting. But in Judges 8:4 we find an encouragement for us to keep pressing through the exhaustion and completing the assignment that God has given us. It says that Gideon and his 300 soldiers crossed over the Jordan “exhausted, but still in pursuit.” God was with Gideon and the 300 and gave them the strength to overcome their enemy despite their exhaustion. And God can do the same thing for you. If you’re exhausted, keep pursuing, keep pressing forward, keep fighting, keep standing. Don’t give up! Don’t lose heart! You are about to transition into a season of harvest!
Notes
Transcript
SCRIPTURE
SCRIPTURE
4 When Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit.
MESSAGE
MESSAGE
How Are You Doing?
Common greeting in our culture.
Most people are not really concerned about your answer.
But if we were to answer this question honestly many of us might say we’re tired | worn out | exhausted.
Inflation - high prices
Politics
Wars and rumors of wars
Health issues
Drama (work | school | family | churches)
Busyness of life
Exhausted
Exhausted = being completely drained of energy.
When we come to our text, we find Gideon and the 300 were exhausted.
There were at least 3 different sources of exhaustion (circumstances, choices, calling).
Circumstances
Unending Challenges (Judges 6)
Ungrateful Complaints (Judges 8:1-3)
Undeserved Criticism (Judges 8:5-9)
Choices
Gideon decided to take matters into his own hands by punishing the men of Succoth and Penuel who refused to help him and the 300.
We can bring exhaustion on ourselves unnecessarily by:
Taking on tasks and responsibilities that God never assigned to us.
Sticking our nose in business where it doesn’t belong.
Calling
Notice that at least part of the reason why Gideon and the 300 were exhausted was because they were obedient to God.
They had just come out of a great victory where they were completing the assignment that God had given them.
You’ve got to understand that there is a level of exhaustion that can come from completing the assignment God has given you.
Fervent prayer can be exhausting.
Putting on the whole armor of God every day and fighting spiritual warfare can be exhausting.
Filtering out the negativity and drama going on around you can be exhausting.
But Still in Pursuit
Gideon and the 300 crossed over the Jordan.
Notice that all 300 crossed over.
The Jordan represents a place of transition in the Bible.
Joshua and Israel crossed the Jordan and transitioned from the wilderness wanderings to the promised land.
Elisha crossed the Jordan with Elijah and received Elijah’s prophetic mantle, which began his prophetic ministry.
Jesus was baptized in the Jordan and began His earthly ministry.
We often speak of death and crossing over to the other side as crossing the Jordan.
You might be exhausted, but God may also be bringing you to a place of transition.
It is time for that supernatural encounter with God that transitions us into the next season.
It is time to leave the wilderness and enter the promise.
It is time to leave the desert and enter the land flowing with milk and honey.
Notice they faced exhaustion on both sides of the Jordan. So we are never going to reach the place of no exhaustion on this side of heaven.
We’ve got to keep pursuing.
What should we be pursuing?
11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Godly Character
Righteousness = right with God; treating people right
Godliness = taking on God’s character; holiness
Faith = not looking at the things that are seen, but unseen
Love = love God and love people
Patience = endurance in reproaches, injuries, persecution
Gentleness = meekness, humility
Spiritual Calling
Fight the Good Fight of Faith
Get on the Battlefield for the Lord
Heavenly Citizenship
Lay hold on eternal life.
We have the promise of an eternal home in Heaven with Jesus if we’ll hold on.
Leave it all on the field.
I want to end this life and transition into eternal life exhausted.
I want to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and know I gave it everything I had.
Keep pressing toward the goal.
Caleb was 85 but said he felt as strong as he did at age 40 and said to Joshua ‘give me this mountain’ as an inheritance. (Joshua 14:10-13)
It’s not the one that starts the race that wins the prize, but it is the one who finishes the race.
This is not time to drop out of the race because of exhaustion.
Be like Gideon and the 300 who were exhausted but still in pursuit.
There is a harvest of blessings that await us.
9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
CLOSING
CLOSING