Spiritual Malaise

Malaise is a term usually associated with health issues that are challenging for doctors to diagnose. Common symptoms include discomfort, pain, illness, depression, and/or fatigue. As followers of Jesus, we are warned against spiritual malaise, but some of us have experienced it. And denying it doesn’t make it so.

Spiritual Malaise most often, but not exclusively, affects those who are the most involved in church, those who give the most of themselves. And often, it comes upon them quickly. Like the old joke goes, “Did you wake up grumpy? No, I let him sleep!” Spiritual malaise is like needing to prepare my Sunday School lesson, but struggling to “work as unto the Lord.¹ ”

There are good reasons for pastors, teachers, and other ministry teams in your church to go to retreats, conferences, and other activities where God can “recharge their batteries.”

As believers, we may hesitate to ask fellow Christians to pray for us when we feel spiritually listless. After all, we are warned, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.²” And Jesus was sorrowful for Peter, James, and John, when they did not stay awake and pray with Him, saying, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.³”

God’s Word is true, and we do well to be obedient. Nevertheless, we may experience times when God tests us, “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.⁴” And there may be times when our malaise has nothing to do with God testing us. We may fall into it for other reasons. My point is this: when we come to our senses and realize our condition, Jesus is ready to recharge us, refresh us, and renew us.

Sometimes we may forget how committed Jesus is to us successfully finishing our race. He and a great cloud of witnesses are cheering us on.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

– Hebrews 12:1

Of all the dangers we as believers face, the most dangerous may be when we are caught in the “in-betweens.” Make haste to set your spiritual house in order, for we do not know when Father God will turn to His Son and say, “It is time!” Jesus has equipped us to be overcomers, and that includes spiritual malaise.

There was a time when David was caught in the wilderness of Judah. He wrote a Psalm about it. “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.⁵” We may feel faint. We may even struggle to care that we feel faint. Still, Jesus is ready to lift us up as He lifted Peter out of the water when he lost faith and began to sink⁶.

Receive your renewal. Live for Jesus. That’s what matters.

Footnotes

1. Colossians 3:23 – Christian Households. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved May 27, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/colossians/3-23.htm
2. Galatians 6:9 – Carry One Another’s Burdens. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved May 27, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/galatians/6-9.htm
3. Mark 14:38 – Jesus Prays at Gethsemane. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved May 27, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/mark/14-38.htm
4. James 1:3 – Rejoicing in Trials. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved May 27, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/james/1-3.htm
5. Psalm 63:1 – Thirsting for God. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved May 27, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/psalms/63-1.htm
6. Matthew 14:28-31 – New International Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved May 27, 2025, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2014%3A28-31&version=NIV