by A. W. Tozer
Apart from a few brief experiences when the pressure of the world's woes seemed about to crush Him, our Lord while on earth lived a life of relative tranquillity. So at least we would gather from such sketchy biographical material as God has been pleased to furnish us in the four Gospels.
Though Christ was a man of sorrows and though His purity, honesty and penetrating moral insight brought Him into sharp conflict with the hollow religious world around Him, still He maintained a certain quiet poise and freedom from strain throughout His earthly sojourn. Only when He entered purposefully into the dark regions of death to bear the sins of man did He show evidence of exhaustion. But then He was a victim, the Victim, and the normal order of His life was deliberately forsaken for the tears and blood and dying that rightfully belonged to those for whom He was vicariously suffering.
Our Lord was able to work with a minimum of weariness because He was a man completely possessed by the Holy Spirit. As a man He did grow tired and had to sleep and rest to refresh Himself, but the strain and the exhaustion that He would otherwise have suffered were spared Him by the constant quickening of the Holy Spirit. Peter explained that Christ "went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil," after God had "anointed [Him] with the Holy Spirit and power" (Acts 10:38).
It is possible to work far beyond the normal strength of the human constitution and yet experience little or no fatigue because the energy for the work has been provided, not by the burning up of human tissue, but by the indwelling Spirit of power. This has been realized by a few unusual souls, and the pity is that they are unusual.
Attention has recently been focused upon the fact that ministers suffer a disproportionately high number of nervous breakdowns compared with other men. The reasons are many, and for the most part they reflect credit on the men of God. Still I wonder if it is all necessary. I wonder whether we who claim to be sons of the new creation are not allowing ourselves to be cheated out of our heritage. Surely it should not be necessary to do spiritual work in the strength of our natural talents. God has provided supernatural energies for supernatural tasks. The attempt to do the work of the Spirit without the Spirit's enabling may explain the propensity to nervous collapse on the part of Christian ministers.
It has been the experience of some great souls that the Spirit actually rests the human organism into which He enters. The Bible would seem to support this belief. Could this be what Isaiah had in mind when he wrote,
till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
and the desert becomes a fertile field,
and the fertile field seems like a forest.
Justice will dwell in the desert
and righteousness live in the fertile field.
The fruit of righteousness will be peace;
the effect of righteousness will be
quietness and confidence forever.
My people will live in peaceful dwelling places,
in secure homes,
in undisturbed places of rest.
Though hail flattens the forest
and the city is leveled completely,
how blessed you will be,
sowing your seed by every stream,
and letting your oxen and donkeys range free. (32:15-20)Maybe we have been missing something very wonderful and very necessary. It might be well if we gave the matter some prayerful attention. Who knows but we may discover a secret of health long hidden from the rank and file of Christians. And God knows we need it.
( The Size of the Soul, Chapter 41 )
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