It’s Time to Renew

Scripture: Isaiah 40.21-31; 1 Corinthians 9.16-23; Galatians 6.7-10


This past month we’ve been focusing on listening to God’s call in our lives. As we learn to listen, our lives are lived with more purpose and passion for the right things. But another reality we all face is that even the best listeners among us will fall into ruts and downtimes when our lives won’t seem very special or purposeful.

Have you ever felt like you were in a rut – when all the days seem to run together and look pretty much the same?

Bill Murray’s character in the film, Groundhog Day, is a selfish, vain individual who suddenly finds himself stuck in a place where he doesn’t want to be (Punxsutawney) and stuck in a day when he doesn’t want to be. In other words, Phil literally lives the same exact day over and over again. He wakes up to the same music on the radio, the same weather outside, the same idle chit-chat with the same people through the course of the same day, the same job of reporting on whether the other Phil, the overgrown rodent, will see his shadow or not. Imagine, doing that once a year is okay, even fun; but doing it everyday of your life? Pass the Tylenol please.

But there’s hope for Phil. In the goodness of a woman he sees his own selfishness and the shallowness of his life. And he changes. He makes the most of the day he’s given. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, he gives tremendous energy and effort to making himself a better person and more than that, helping others at their need.


Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to have to live the same day over and over again. I remember asking Duffy Robbins when he was here a couple years ago if he was going to continue to do the Understanding Your Teenager Seminars and he smiled at me and said, “ I’ll keep doing them until I get it right.” Maybe if we had the same day to do over, we would eventually get it right.

The prophet Isaiah speaks to exactly this problem of children of God who have lost their way a bit, disciples who have misplaced their purpose and lost their passion. These are people who are asking questions like these”

“Did God forget about me? Or did He just get bored with me? Am I no longer of any use to God?”

But Isaiah reminds them of some things about God. God doesn’t get bored or distracted. God doesn’t go to sleep. He doesn’t even get tired.

Yet God understands that we do get tired. He understands that we go through dry times and lose focus.
“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.” The Lord understands.


As some of you may know, I am trying to sell the pickup truck that I used to drive. It has problems, so I wanted to advertise cheap, say, for free, and if you want to advertise for free, then Trader’s Guide is your answer. You go to Trader’s Guide.com and submit your ad and it’s good for one week. What’s also nice is they send you an email automatically telling you when it’s time to renew your ad.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we got an email, a phone call, some kind of message automatically telling us that it was time for us to renew our passion and our spirits?

Maybe we do get this. Maybe the rut is the message. Maybe the weariness is the call that it’s time to renew again.


My friend Jim was a public school teacher who found himself in a rut. He liked the kids but didn’t like some of the administration and other responsibilities that went with the job. Maybe he just needed something else. He now works as an English instructor at Camp Hill State Correctional Institute. What is the difference between teaching your average junior high kid and a room full of hardened criminals? Not a lot, according to Jim. The main difference is he has more control over the inmates. He can actually punish them. In fact, he told me the other day he was having a particularly bad day and he almost sent someone to the Hole.

“You can send someone to the Hole?” I said. I thought that was just in the movies.

“Yeah – and they know it. That’s helps.”

“I can’t believe you would send somebody to the Hole,” I said.

“I would,” Jim said. “I haven’t, but I would.”

“They ought to have a Hole in Public School,” I said. We both agreed that would help.


Now what you need to know about Jim is that he is a caring individual. We went to a Pitt football game together once and while I’m admiring the stadium, Jim is worried about whether the homeless will be warm enough on that cold night. Jim has enough grace and enough toughness to be good at that job. Maybe he has found renewal.

Our call from God is worked out primarily through our vocation. Don’t forget it. If you don’t know how to be a servant of God through your work, then you haven’t found your call yet.

“Vocation is where your heart’s desire meets the world’s need,” Frederick Buechner said.

If you have found your calling then heart’s desires will meet world’s need. God will continuously renew your passion as you hope and look to Him. Your call will be something that you cannot not do.

“Woe is me,” Paul the preacher said, “if I don’t preach the gospel.” Preachers gotta preach. Fish gotta swim. What is it you gotta do?

“Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.” (Galatians 6.7-10)

“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40.30-31)

It’s time to soar.