What the Prophet Jeremiah Would Tell You About Your Weariness

Are you growing weary? Do you feel exhausted mentally, emotionally, physically? If so, you are not alone. A No. 1 tactic of the enemy is to wear you and me out. One cold winter morning, I received a wake-up call! I was just out of bed on Dec. 14, 2014, and talking with the Lord as I made my way through my morning routine. I was still half-asleep and praising the Lord as best I could when He spoke. I heard His precious voice, intense and challenging, “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses?” I immediately knew it was a gentle rebuke from the Lord, but I also sensed it was more.

The words I heard that morning are found in Jeremiah 12:5. It is God’s response to Jeremiah in a time of prayer, as recorded in the first four verses of the chapter. God rebukes Jeremiah by pointing out that He is allowing the “footmen” to defeat him. The Lord dealt with at least four areas in Jeremiah’s heart. As you read the prayer carefully you see that God was dealing with Jeremiah’s:

1. Complaining
2. Hint of accusation that God is sometimes unjust
3. Desire for judgment on those who are not following God and are troubling the nation
4. Impatience and his yielding to the spirit of weariness

How are you doing in these areas? Are you like me, guilty of all?  Perhaps, again like me, the one you need the most help with is in the area of impatience that produces weariness. Remember the challenge in Galatians 6:9? “And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not give up.” I want you to notice two powerful truths: first, it is possible for anyone of us to grow weary while doing good and miss our harvest. Second, it is possible for all of us to refuse to grow weary and reap our harvest!

Jeremiah yielded to weariness. The Lord said, “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with the horses?”  It is a gentle rebuke. God was communicating to Jeremiah: there are tougher days ahead, and if you are falling apart now, you certainly won’t survive what is coming. But this is more than a rebuke—it is also an invitation to a place of greater strength, greater influence and more significant impact. More than footmen are coming! Tougher times are ahead. But God is saying, “My destiny for you is to enable you to contend with the horses. You will run with them and even outrun them!”

Far too many see this as impossible. Many in the church, view the tough days we are experiencing as signs of our quick departure. But God has destined us to run with the horses in the last days. How can this be possible? The greater One lives in us. In the same way, God strengthened Elijah and enabled him to outrun the finest horses in Israel, God’s supernatural strength will enable you to face whatever the future brings (1 Kings 18:41-46).

Think about it: The “hand of the Lord” came on Elijah outwardly and enabled him to do the impossible. We have the very Spirit of Jesus Himself living on the inside of us to strengthen, empower and enable us.! If Elijah can do the impossible, then certainly we can. In fact, you and I have a distinct advantage over Elijah. The Holy Spirit is dwelling inside us, and the Word is alive in us.

You know that more difficult days are coming upon the nations of the world. The perilous times of great stress Paul prophesied about are here (2 Tim. 3:1-5). Greater darkness is moving in and covering this generation, but we are not called to have our bags packed and be sitting in a corner until our ride arrives. We are called to challenge the day, challenge the status quo. We are called to go into everybody’s world and proclaim the good news of Jesus.

I boldly declare over your life and mine today: We will not be worn out by the small footmen of life. No! We will contend with horses and be victorious in every area of living. How? By holding on to the promise. By keeping our eyes on Jesus and running the race!

Do not allow impatience to make you weary. Be strong in the Lord and not your strength, intelligence or ingenuity. You can do it by the power of the Spirit of Jesus living in you. You were created to run with the horses. {eoa}

Keith Nix is the founding lead pastor of a thriving congregation, The Lift Church in Sevierville, Tennessee. He has traveled as an international evangelist since 1993, carrying a unique prophetic message of awakening to this generation. He and his wife, Margie, have one daughter, Isabella. You can receive a free download of this message by visiting keithnix.net.