I’ve been asking a few people about weariness. Seems we all have a way we can complete this sentence. I was so tired that . . .
I slipped while taking a shower and grabbed the water as if it could save me.
I thanked the elevator as I was walking out.
I blew on my ice cream to cool it off.
I entered my phone password on the microwave, instead of time duration, to heat up the pizza.
I thought my hand was my alarm clock. I stayed in bed ten minutes trying to turn it off.
I texted my friend, saying, “I can’t talk now. I can’t find my phone.”
I threw my laundry in the garbage and my empty chip bag in the laundry basket.
I spent several minutes at a Stop sign waiting for it to turn green.
Groan. If only the price of fatigue were limited to goofy actions about which we later chuckle.
There is a weariness among us. A shoulder-slumping, eyelid-drooping fatigue with life. We work long hours and stand in long lines and long for a long weekend when we can finally escape the long list of jobs to do, people to impress, new gadgets to own, learn, or program.
We are weary. Weary from relationships that don’t work or careers that don’t satisfy or bodies that refuse to heal. Weary from too many trips to the cemetery, therapist, or happy hours that are anything but. Our shoulders slump. Our eyelids droop. We are tired. A tired people. A tired generation.
Blame it on our “reach for the moon” work ethic. The more diligent the effort, the more prosperous the reward. We saddle up the horse called “go get ’em” and do exactly that.
Blame our weariness on the Internet revolution. We are never unplugged! Texts, e-mails, and updates are only an arm’s length away. Leave work at work? Not in this day and age. Messages drop like hailstorms, every day, all the time. Downtime becomes work time, crowding out what little margin we might have had.
Blame our exhaustion on a peculiar pride we have in margin-less living. We are proud of our long hours and late flights. Weariness is a badge of honor. If we aren’t swamped and overworked, we almost hate to admit it.
The consequence? A society of exhaustion. People pushed and pulled in a thousand directions.
Are you among them? You don’t have to be. Jesus has an invitation for you. “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28 NASB).
Rest. Isn’t that what we need? Rest for the soul. God has plenty to offer.
The story is told about a poor man who lived in Eastern Europe in the early 1900s. Seeking a better life for himself and his family, he scraped together enough money to buy a third-class ticket on a steamship to New York City. He planned to find work and send for his family.
Having exhausted nearly all his money on the passage, he subsisted for the twelve-day journey on a wheel of hard cheese and a box of crackers. He looked longingly through the dining room window at the other passengers who ate hot, hearty, delicious meals. He would retreat into his tiny stateroom for his ration of cheese.
On the final day of the voyage, with the Statue of Liberty in sight, the man found himself standing at the railing next to one of the ship’s stewards.
“I don’t mean to pry,” said the steward, “but why have we not seen you in the dining room?”
The traveler explained his lack of money and dependence upon crackers and cheese. The steward responded with shock, “Did you not know that three meals a day were included in your ticket? We set you a place every day, but you never came.”
God has set you a place at his table. You’ve been given more than cheese and crackers. Avail yourself of every spiritual strength and blessing. Heaven knows, we need the help. God is here to give it.