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Bulletin 107 Date : 15th Aug 2007
The Spirit is willing but …

I was recently preaching on the theme of ‘living by faith’ and mentioned to the congregation that there are times in our Christian lives when we simply don’t have the inclination or enthusiasm to live by faith. I cited the example of Jonah who, instead of obeying God’s command to preach to Nineveh, went off in the other direction. Mind you, he did have a whale of a time in the process! But there are times when, with the best will in the world, we find it difficult to summons the enthusiasm and energy to witness effectively to our faith.

Jesus looked with disappointment upon his closest disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane when they were unable to pray with him for an hour, and he said to them, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41). Paul wrestles with his own conscience when he says, in rather emotive language, “I can will what is right, but I cannot do it… Wretched man that I am!” (Romans 7:13-25). But, let’s face it, we all have times like this and those of us who are regularly in the public eye can find that they occur at the most awkward of times. So how do we deal with these times when not only do we find the flesh weak, but the spirit is less than cooperative too?

One answer would be to revert to those good old remedies. The picture you see above is one I took (the photo not the bile beans) on the station of the Great Central Railway at Loughborough. My, how the marketing industry has moved on since then! The hectic lifestyle of the 21^st century takes its toll on us and we need to treat ourselves more kindly. In his new book entitled ‘Do Nothing to Change Your Life’ Stephen Cottrell (Bishop of Reading) extols the merits of setting aside times when you force yourself to do nothing in order to allow your creativity to re-emerge. He says it’s not wasting time, but using it differently.

Another answer lies in the word discipline. It’s not a popular word in our pleasure-seeking society. Richard Foster’s classic, ‘Celebration of Discipline’ plots the path to spiritual growth through a number of spiritual disciplines. Indeed, we not only need to learn to discipline ourselves in respect of the things we do, but also in respect of the things we choose not to do.

A very practical answer to the problem lies in the gift of prayer. I am constantly amazed at the way in which I can hand over my own weakness to God and see him bless my work at times when I least expect it. I can lead a service after a period of spiritual dryness and yet find that God’s Spirit has worked powerfully in spite of how I feel, largely because I have committed the work to God in prayer (Romans 8:26-27).

But the final point I would make is recognising that we are human, and as a consequence experience times of frailty, often for reasons which are not apparent at the time. Rick Warren of Purpose Driven Church fame praises a former mentor who persuaded him to take a day off each month for himself – no phone or church distractions. He claims it saved him from a breakdown.

So next time you feel the pressure and those guilt feelings take a hold, you could try reaching for the bile beans (or whatever the modern-day equivalent is), but whatever you do, remember you’re by no means the only person who has times like this. Remember Peter, James and John, remember Paul – and remember prayer!

I’m just off for a short break with my son and his girlfriend in the Outer Hebrides. I’ll let you know if my remedies worked.

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