Have
you ever read a text that you have read a thousand times and suddenly heard it
like it was brand new? That was my experience today. Isaiah 40 is both familiar
to many people and one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. In particular, the
end of that chapter where God reminds his people that even though they might
grow weary, “He will not grow tired or weary.” (v. 28)
Lately,
I have found myself weary. It’s not that I am tired, although I am. I feel
weary – that internal heaviness that weighs one down like trying to walk with
50 pound weights strapped to both feet. I think most people feel weary at some
point or other but I do wonder if those who serve the church in one way or
another are prone to a particular sort of weariness.
For me,
at least, that weariness is a combination of feeling like I just can’t do one
more thing and guilt for not wanting to do whatever that one more thing is. It
is a catch 22 of sorts. If I do it, I will likely not bring to the task an
attitude that blesses those who are working with me. If I don’t do it, I will
feel like I have let all sorts of people down, and maybe God too. And I feel
like a whiner – to God, to those around me, etc. – and I don’t like whiners,
they make me even more tired and I don’t want to be one.
It
struck me that it is very easy to predicate of God what is true of me. I assume
he gets tired of my complaints, maybe especially my complaints about his people
and the work he has called me to do. It’s not a stretch for me to think that
God gets annoyed with me and my whining just as I can get annoyed with other
people and their whining.
Enter
Isaiah.
God
does not grow tired or weary with his people. His patience with my weakness and weariness is infinite. His love for me
will not grow thin. I grow tired but he does not. But the story is even better
than that.
Not
only does the “Creator of the ends of the earth” not grow tired or weary caring
for his people, but he gives them strength! He gives strength to me when I can’t
find any more strength. He gives the strength to soar.
And
when I can’t soar, he gives me the strength to run.
And
when he knows that I can’t even run any more, he gives me what I need to keep
doing his work, even if it is only at the pace of walking.
Maybe
my problem, is that I tend to forget where my strength is found.
Hey Buddy! Once again, I resonate with what you are writing here. It is one thing to be tired. It is another to be weary. I wish I had some fancy psychological term to throw out here, but I don't. From my experience in this field, there is not a good way to explain weariness. I find that frustrating! How can we help people when they face these times in there live, because have to believe that everyone does! This was such a breath of fresh air from a Christian perspective. I now know how to help myself through these times of trial. I just need to find a way to help my future clients :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michelle. I think for me part of the frustration with weariness is that I don't want to walk. I want God to help me soar. I need to learn to be content with seasons of walking as well as seasons of soaring. It may well be that striving to soar all the time is what makes me weary.
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