Pastor’s Corner: When I grow weary
A meme that recently came across my phone as I was scrolling the other day said, “I feel like I am already tired tomorrow.”
It caught my attention because I can relate to its meaning more than I wish I could. We are a tired people. I think I can remember when two-day weekends were enough time to get everything done I needed to do, plus rest up for the busy work week. Now it just seems like we all are in a perpetual state of exhaustion that never ends.
Just ask most people how they are nowadays. Most of the time the response I get is either “busy” or “tired” or both. While there are many reasons for this exhaustion, like being too busy, or unhealthy eating/drinking habits, or stress/anxiety, or being responsible for young ones who don’t sleep through the night, or doing physically exhausting things, or age, or (the list goes on), the fact is that many people struggle with weariness, myself included.
When one of my granddaughters was two, we took a picture of her at the dinner table because she had just put a carrot into her mouth, and then immediately fell asleep. The carrot was still sticking out just like a pipe, but she was out cold. She had finally given into her exhaustion, and we removed the carrot, put her to bed, and an hour later, she woke up, rested and happy. Sometimes, as adults, we take a nap, and we do not wake up rested and happy, but rather feeling just as behind and tired out as before we rested. What do we do when we are just so weary that we do not know what to do?
God always has reminders in His Scriptures that nudge us about His faithfulness. For instance, in Isaiah 40:28 – 31, it says, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 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.”
Truthfully, as often as I have read these Scriptures, sometimes, I need more. So, then I turn to other words, like Hebrews 12:1 – 3, which says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
The key words that jump out in this passage are “fixing our eyes on Jesus” and “Consider him” and “so that you will not grow weary.” For me, focusing on Christ and all that He is and all that He endured for me, and all that life with Him offers me, is a bit of fresh air that gives some rest to my weary soul. We must consider Him (Christ), the perfecter of our faith, so that we will not grow weary. Life is tiring, but life in Christ has possibilities for renewal and strength that are more than enough. For every moment, for every day.
Wynne Schott is co-pastor of the Cheboygan Church of the Nazarene.
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Pastor’s Corner: When I grow weary
