“I’m so exhausted!” We’ve all said these words when we’re physically depleted, but have you been so emotionally or mentally drained that you can’t imagine making it to tomorrow, let alone where you’ll be years down the road in this struggle you’re in?
“I’m so exhausted!” These were my words recently. I found myself in my car with the sunlight warming my skin and fresh air whipping through my windows and cooling my ever-receding hairline… According to the weather report, these are the days I wait for throughout the year. I live for these days. According to my inner-monologue, however, these are among my least favorite days – ones where discouragement overflows and my context disagrees with my God. There, between a rock and a hard place, decisions are difficult to make. I do not live for these days. I am weighed down by these days.
Your circumstances may be different, but have you been exhausted? Are you currently exhausted? Does the sunrise of tomorrow look impossibly far away? Do you wonder how you can make it to the sunrise of a decade or two from now?
If you can’t relate, God bless you. You are in a wonderfully rare position. But if you can relate, welcome.
Our Lord enthusiastically greets you. He speaks to us the beautiful words that Paul recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 when He said “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” You mean that the power of Christ may dwell in me when my weakness overwhelms me? You mean I can praise God for those weaknesses, insults, distresses, persecutions, and difficulties that I bear on behalf of Christ? That when I believe I’m in control of my life and circumstances, I lose sight of Him, but it’s when I am weak that, then, I am strong in Him? What a beautiful and freeing truth…
It’s a truth that’s counter to the ways of the world. We must not lean on our own understanding but acknowledge… Someone else? But I prefer to make my own paths straight…. I’m an independent free-thinking individualist – I need no one! But then the truth smacks me across the face that Christ is the vine and I am a mere branch. I depend on Him for every breath, let alone a sunrise of twenty years from now. No, I must allow Him to make my paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Isn’t that a truth to be celebrated? Our path – or perhaps the time from here to the next sunrise that seems so impossibly far away – can be set by the God of redemption? Remember, this is the God who causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Even when our circumstances are the opposite of what we desire, or they may even be that way because of mistakes we’ve made, we serve a God who redeems and brings good out of the bad.
So we take all that Christ has shown us in the Scriptures and we seek peace. We know that we will have tribulation, but He says to take courage because He has overcome the world (John 16:33). It’s not about you or me. If it was, we would have to buckle up for a bumpy ride. No – it’s about Christ and His glory and when that is our true focus, then His overcoming the world brings us peace and calms our exhaustion.
So join me in this moment. Let’s seek Him to still our fears and stall the exhaustion. His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30). That’s not an over-spiritualized or abstract thought. That’s a truth which is promised to us through Christ. Marinate in it and tomorrow’s sunrise will show itself to be not so terribly far away.
Love you all,
Young Adult Minister – Evan McNeff
As the story goes, C.S. Lewis said that grace was the primary distinction between Christianity and all other world religions. I am thankful that the one true faith, the relationship offered with Jesus Christ, depends not on me, but on Him. What a relief!