The Weight of Weariness
“Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.”
Are you familiar with this verse above?
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been experiencing a growing weariness during this season. And it makes me wonder about how God actually expects us to gain His strength in weary seasons. During our staff meeting, I shared from a recent blog I wrote on Soul-Care.com called The Weight of Weariness.
As we talked, our staff explored the variety of ways we’re experiencing this struggle with weariness in our everyday lives. And each person noted how much of an effect it has, and still, we all are trying to cope with it. But our coping isn’t working.
So here’s a bit of those thoughts and discussion:
It is redundant to say the words COVID, pandemic, race issues, election, riots, on and on. In my recent conversations, I’m noticing how, for many, the shock and unbelief of our circumstances in 2020 has dissipated and given way to a deep well of weariness. Weary of questions. Weary of news. Weary of updates. Changes. Regulations. Masks. Distance. Division. Opinions. Fear.
It’s like the skills we’ve used to survive the last year are revealing their fruits in the new year, and, despite the multifaceted ways we’ve coped with worldwide change, and despite our best intentions, a similar fruit arises across our culture: weariness.
It’s so much easier nowadays to relate to the words below from Moses, recorded in Psalm 90. Remember, Israel had spent 40 years following God through a desert wilderness. Moses watched God’s people die one by one while they waited for the promised land. A whole generation would be lost before they entered those sacred promises and finally arrive “home”.
“You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence.
For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh.
As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years,
Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away....
So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”
Can you hear Moses’s weariness as he writes? And He knows God deeply, personally. In Exodus, the Scripture records, “The LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend,” (Exodus 33:11 NASB). So, is this how God treats His friends?
Are the friends of God made to endure weariness? What is going on here?
And if so, how does this fit with the Isaiah 40 scripture above that promises renewal, restoration, and reviving for the weary?
Lets press into this together. Weariness is defined as:
extreme tiredness; fatigue.
reluctance to see or experience any more of something.
That second definition stands out in our current season.
What is it that you are not just tired of, but feel “reluctance to see or experience any more” of it?
In which area of life currently, is your heart saying “No more. I’m done. I can’t take it.”
What are you facing that triggers you to exhaustion, to just want to throw your hands up in the air and walk out?
That is weariness.
The first step in dealing with weariness is to recognize it. Good job. Pat yourself on the back. You did it.