When I was younger, I thought I knew what tired felt like when I got my first job. I then became a parent and experienced a new level of tired I hadn’t even dreamed of. Actually, I couldn’t dream of it because I wasn’t really sleeping. The fatigue I experienced then was more physical due to the lack of sleep, but sometimes we can experience a weariness of our souls. A heaviness that comes with praying the same prayer, keeping the faith, fighting the same temptation over and over again. If you’ve experienced this type of weariness, there is hope for you in today’s scripture.
Isaiah 40:30-31 says:
“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:30-31 ESV
There are two lessons I want you to take from this scripture. First, God expects us to get tired, and second, God gives us His strength.
First, the verse says, “even youths shall faint and be weary.” Who are we to think we’re not going to get tired. Yet when we do get weary, we get so frustrated because we feel limited by our fatigue, but God expects it.
My kids do not like taking naps. Even when I know they are tired they will insist they don’t need to take a nap. I don’t fight them on this too hard because I know; eventually, it’s going to catch up to them. No matter how much energy they have, and they have much more than me, if they’re really tired, they will fall asleep wherever they are. In the car, on the couch, on the floor, and both my children have even fallen asleep eating at the kitchen table.
Why? Because even youths, with all their energy and excitement, fall exhausted.
If you’re feeling tired today, I want you to know that is okay. You are not a failure. God did not make you to bulldoze your way through life nonstop.
God expects you to get tired. He’s planned for you to get weary because He knows you are human.
So what are we supposed to do when we get tired?
Well, next the scripture tells us to wait on God, and when we do, He will renew our strength. God knows we have our limits, but He doesn’t. God knows we can’t do it all, but He can. God knows we’ll get tired and weary and faint, but He won’t.
When we get tired, we don’t need to push through in the flesh; we need to lean on God for His endless and everlasting strength.
Everything that we are not God is, and in our fatigue, He invites us to come to Him and have all our need provided. Don’t do it alone, Beloved. Surely you will faint if you try. Do it with God, and lean on Him. Look to Him, and wait on Him so you can run and not be weary, walk, and not faint.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for covering my weakness. Please be my strength today as I look to You. In Jesus Christ Name, I pray. Amen.
I hope today’s devotional helps you to see your seasons of weariness in a new light and trust God with your fatigue. I’d love to hear from you, what promise of God helps you to keep going when you feel tired and weary? I’m looking forward to chatting in the comments.
Find more encouragement from Christina Patterson at www.belovedwomen.org. Also, 2020 Beloved Planners are available for pre-order for a limited time. Order yours now here.
