May 24 2026
This is a quote from a book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery written mid last century. It is deeply wise and calls for us, when life has knocked us flat, to stand up again and keep going. Or at least to not become too cynical. Pretty good advice.
There is a problem though… If you are just exhausted and world weary, there is a time to withdraw and breathe again. Fatigue after a few too many knocks requires rest and recuperation. Elijah discovered this when he despaired of his life and felt like he alone was being faithful to God. So God said, ‘Take a nap. Have some food. And then I’ll introduce you to some fellow battlers’. See 1 Kings 19 for further details.
If, like many, anxiety and mental exhaustion feels like the air you breathe, perhaps God might say to you, ‘Come apart from the noise and rest a while’. Because God doesn’t want you to come apart in the other sense of the phrase.
As a church we want to be a safe place for whatever people are going through. We probably can’t fix it and maybe shouldn’t try to, but let’s be to one another those who show up and stand alongside each other. It is firstly within the community of Christ the fruits of the Spirit are to be demonstrated. Or as Jesus said to his disciples, ‘By this will all know that you are my disciples…if you have love for one another’.
Julian Holdsworth
BSBC Pastor
