I Am Worn Out
It’s Daylight Savings Time again and we’re walking through life like zombies from losing just one hour of sleep. Many of us have good intentions to go to bed earlier on Saturday night to prepare, but most of us do not. We are tired. We are worn out. But, if we were to admit it, the time change isn’t really what is wearing us out. Life is.
There are so many things that we struggle with daily that make us feel worn out. Our schedules are busy, filling more hours in a day than we are supposed to be awake. Carpooling kids to school, practices, and parties, keeping a planner so that when little Jimmy is at soccer practice, we can go pick up Susie from ballet. Many of us are worn out from the suffering and grieving we may have experienced. Loss of loved ones takes an emotional toil, which translates to a physical toll on our bodies. As women, we have to keep going no matter how worn out we feel, but doing that and keeping a smile on our face at the same time becomes more difficult.
That’s when our attitudes change. We become cynical and negative about anything in life. Nothing seems like it’s going our way and we wonder if anyone truly understands our plight. Even more important, does God understand? And does He realize I’m so worn out I can’t think to utter a word in prayer? Have I described you yet?
Psalm 103:13-14 says, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For He knows what we are made of, remembering that we are dust.” As fragile as we are, God’s care is eternal. We often focus on God as the Judge and Lawgiver and ignore His compassion and concern for us. He knows our human condition. God’s compassion isn’t a justification for sin, but we need to remember that He deals with us compassionately.
Weariness can cause us to turn to everyone and everything but God. We might turn to food, especially chocolate, because that certainly will boost our weary souls. Sometimes we turn to shopping. Retail therapy is the cure for all that ails you, right? Not really. In our weary moments, we tend to gravitate toward the temporal – food, shopping – and forget to turn to our Source of Strength.
Isaiah 40:28-31 says, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding. He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust 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 faint.”
Even the strongest people get tired sometimes, yet God’s power and strength never diminish. He is never too tired to help us or listen to our cries. Some translations say “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” What is that hope? It is grasping hold to the promise of strength from God that will help us rise above life’s distractions and difficulties. Just like the eagle soars to great heights, we can soar above our circumstances, with our wings powered by God’s strength. In those moments when you feel worn out, renew your strength. Go to the One who has all the strength you need. He is sweeter than chocolate.
This is a recap from Week One from the Angela Thomas’ Bible study, Brave. The women of NAOBC recently completed this study and recaps from each of the six weeks will be posted.
