A great scene from the movie “Up” is when Mr. Fredrickson is walking along with Russell. Both of them are tethered to a floating house (you’d have to see it to understand). Russell is acting like a typical kid on a road trip; he whines: “I’m tired; I need to go to the bathroom” in typical kid fashion. Finally, he collapses in exhaustion, and the tether just drags him along in the dirt. But when Mr. Fredrickson tells him to go to the bathroom, Russell perks up all of a sudden because he’s never done that in the wild before.
Ever notice how kids are really tired until there’s something fun to do, and then they have a miraculous recovery? Christian adults get like that, too. All of us (even pastors) have to drag ourselves out of bed for the Worship Gathering sometimes. “I’m so tired!” But if, on the same day, someone asked us to get up early for a trip to Sea World or a day on the lake, we’d probably be up in a flash.
Why do we often have so little energy for spiritual matters? There are a variety of reasons, perhaps, but I think that a common one is our obsession with the “seen” over the “unseen.” It’s hard to invest in the unseen matters of faith b/c they don’t usually produce immediate results; most investment in Christ takes time and faithfulness to produce results. For example: Jesus promises us peace through his gospel, but we don’t always feel at peace right away when hearing it. Jesus promises blessing through obedience, but we don’t see it right away, and it may not always come as we expect it.
When the Psalmists didn’t see immediate results in the present, they always went back to the past. They reviewed the unfailing love and the awesome deeds of God for His people. Their logic went this way: at this moment, I don’t feel like investing in God because it doesn’t seem to pay off. However, God was always faithful in the Past; His love is unfailing; therefore, God must be working in the Present and we will see the results of that in the Future.
Invest in God now even when you don’t feel like it. He is faithful. Always has been.
Psalm 77:9-12
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”
10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will meditate on all your works
and consider all your mighty deeds.
NIV
