How to Receive When You Feel Depleted
Jan 23, 2023
When you feel a calling on your life in any capacity to lead, coach, teach, in ministry, to prophecy, just in any capacity, to be a leader of any type… and when you are in a season that you literally can’t even lift your arms to worship because you just feel so depleted - when you are in those seasons, friends, it is okay to not lift your arms.
Receive it. Receive from the Father. Receive from Him. Come and drink from His overflowing cup. It may look like a worship song. Hitting play on that playlist and just let a worship song just minister to you. It may not look how we, quote, want it to look. It may be a season of receiving.
What the enemy means for harm the Lord will use for good. We are children of God. We are His bride. Sometimes it looks like just laying at his feet and receiving. When you’re not able to open your mouth and sing, when you’re not able to lift those arms, rest in His lap. Rest in His lap friends. It is okay to do that. You don’t have to feel defeated.
The enemy wants you to feel defeated, like you have failed. And, no. In the name of Jesus, he does not get to do that to the body of Christ. Sometimes standing up looks like laying down, at His feet - at the Father’s feet. Sometimes that’s what standing up looks like, friends, is being at peace, laying at the Father’s feet.
It could be laying at the Father’s feet. It could be laying on a friend’s shoulder. It could be holding a friend’s hand. It could be, just, any brother or sister in Christ that you’ve met along the way - receive from them. Let the Father flow through them. This is true, iron sharpens iron, friends. None of us were meant to do this life alone. I will say it once, I will say it again, Jesus had twelve disciples. The one man who could have done it all on His own showed us the way. He had twelve disciples!
Ask the Father who those people are in your life. If you can’t think of anyone offhand, if you feel completely and utterly alone, if you feel like you don’t have anyone to call on, ask HIm. Of course, lay at His feet, yes, but community is so important.
It's a relationship with Him, yes, but community. He wants us to have community. There’s a safe feeling that comes with having a community, with having a home. If you haven’t seen someone in years and you cross paths, and you may break out in tears or just a smile or just joy, it’s because they resonate still as home to you. That’s community.
This principle is applicable not just to leaders or teachers or people in ministry, it’s really applicable for all children of God. All sisters in Christ. Wherever you are in Him. No matter your calling, that is all applicable to you, also.
I think when someone has a calling like that on their life, hearing that is almost like a foreign language to them. It’s not just a new language, it’s a foreign language. It’s almost like that’s just not in their makeup. So, it makes it that much more difficult to not be the one going and doing and to be the one receiving. It makes it that much harder.
I think this is totally applicable, though, to everyone, honestly, in this world, especially in this country, especially women and women in the South. It’s almost like that true Mary versus Martha struggle has been put up, almost, on a pedestal. And I think that pedestal is there straight from the pit of hell. Excuse me, come on. Because what does that do? That keeps us going. It keeps us in the, “go, go, go, go, go”.
And you know what, friends? We miss it. We miss our calling, we miss our purpose, we miss going out to drink coffee with friends. It keeps us missing stuff in our families lives.
If we stay in the busy and going and doing and not any in the receiving, then we literally can miss it.
I don’t want to miss it...
I don’t want to miss it...
I don’t want to miss my calling, my purpose, my, just, joy. When you step into those things, it brings joy. That’s why I will never stop talking about that. Because our identity is found in our function. If we are not functioning in our purpose, in our calling, then that joy is not 100% there. We find our joy in Christ and we want to be who He wants to be.
We want to see ourselves through His eyes, through His lens. And so, I hope that’s encouraging. I hope that’s encouraging to everyone. Sometimes in this world, guys, we get depleted. That’s not failing. I want to change - it’s time to change - the narrative. Resting doesn’t equal failing. Receiving doesn’t equal failing. Being at peace while resting and receiving, as much as we get in the going and doing.
God is doing something. Now’s the time. He’s doing something with this and I pray everyone, just the entire body of Christ, is able to catch it. Just catch it and let’s go. Let’s go and rest. Let’s go and receive. Let’s go and do. Whatever season He has you in.
It brings Him such delight when you’re at peace amidst the chaos. And I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m just saying, have your song playlists at your fingertips. Assess if you need to make time. Assess if you need to make time to just go sit under the magnolia and swing, to go sit outside and watch the birds in the birdbath. Go lay in the hammock. Go out to coffee with a friend. To go to a family event. To just lay in the bed and receive. Turn on worship. Kneel in your prayer chair and just lay it all down. All of it’s okay. Let’s learn to give ourselves permission - it’s okay.
It would be inhuman if you were 100% happy all the time. Like, that’s a robot. That’s not in this world. That’s in Heaven. That’ll be in Heaven because all things are restored, renewed in Heaven.
In this world, as a believer in Christ, I think we need to learn to, not even learn, just shift our perspectives to align with this. This is meant to be an encouragement to fellow sisters and brothers in Christ that have that tendency to go, go, go, and be the doer. Sometimes we need to be able to be the receiver in order to fully be able to give.
by Kelly Osment
