What happens when you get tired? When my daughter is tired, she gets cranky. Even the slightest things will cause emotional outbursts. I’ll be honest with you; my daughter reminds me of myself. When I get tired, I’m not as patient as I should be, and therefore, things trigger frustration quicker. Fatigue amplifies frustrations, which in turn causes us to act out in ways we often regret. Now, there are different types of fatigue, but there is one ultimate solution. Listen: "Then Jesus said, 'Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.' (Matthew 11:28-29) The solution to our fatigue is rest. The fatigue in focus here is spiritual, but I believe these words can still apply to other forms. I want us to explore over the next couple of weeks what it means to rest in Jesus. We are making a slight diversion from the topic we have been looking at the past few weeks; yet, we are still in line with it to some degree. In the book of Judges, Gideon calls God - Yahweh Shalom - which means the Lord is Peace (Judges 6:24). Rest and peace are often tied together, and hopefully, we will see that for ourselves over the next couple of weeks. Let’s talk about physical fatigue. Those times when we have exerted ourselves, and we feel physically worn-out. We’ve all been there. And we know that in these times, we don’t react logically. One example is Esau. “Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, ‘Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Genesis 25:29-30) Esau has come back from hunting in the field, physically worn out and hungry. He smells a delicious meal made by Jacob that is within reach and asks for some. It seems innocent, but what comes next in the story isn’t. Jacob barters for his brother’s birthright. He would give his brother a bowl of stew for his brother’s rightful blessing. Fatigue clouds our judgement and makes it hard for us to think clearly. Making decisions is never a wise course of action during these times, yet, Esau makes a quick decision and trades his birthright for instant relief from hunger. Physical fatigue doesn’t just impact our judgement; it causes us to be snarky and snappy. Our filter of grace and kindness seems to disintegrate. And we know it’s time for bed. Now, we may know what we need, but here’s the thing, like my daughter, we sometimes choose to fight against it. We push through our tiredness by consuming caffeinated beverages. I know because I’m guilty of this. So, why does this happen? Probably a whole number of reasons.
Many of these seem like good reasons. And perhaps we have a mixture of them. There’s another big reason we choose to push ourselves instead of rest, and that is, we often validate our worth by our work. Maybe, like me, you can relate to this. To this, Jesus says, “Come to me, and I will give you rest”. Part of that rest is understanding that our worth doesn’t stem from our performance but Christ’s. The Getty’s put it this way in their song “My Worth Is Not In What I Own”: “My worth is not in skill or name In win or lose, in pride or shame But in the blood of Christ that flowed At the cross” Let’s think about this for a moment. Whose acclaim are we seeking when we try to validate our worth by our work? We are seeking the praise of men, not God. And that is no way to live, especially when we consider God already esteems us in the most significant way because we are in His beloved Son. We try to push ourselves also because we believe that our world cannot go on without us. And so we try to do all the things. Maybe you can connect more to this one. But here’s the thing. The world was revolving before we were born, and it will continue to go on long after we are dead. Why? Because we aren’t the ones holding it together. Jesus is! Listen: “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17) We can either choose to push ourselves thinking that the world cannot operate without us; or rest in knowing that Jesus is in control. We can either choose to push ourselves to validate our worth; or rest in Jesus’ worth. Which one will it be?
Next week we will look at emotional and mental fatigue. So stay tuned!
2 Comments
|
Author
Archives
May 2021
Categories |