Tired of It All

What do you do when you are tired of it all? Let’s face it: we all get tired. We get discouraged. We feel spent and as if we have tried all we can try, but nothing is good enough. This gray season of cold doesn’t help, but this feeling may hit us at any time. So what do we do?

What do you do when your job feels monotonous and you never feel appreciated? What do you do when the physical therapy isn’t helping and you are no closer to being “your old self again” despite the doctor’s promises. What do you do when your spouse never seems happy with you even though you are trying to meet their needs. What do you do when you can’t make ends meet no matter how you scrimp and save and you just feel like there is no end in sight? What do you do when …

Everyone’s situation is different and yet we all feel weary, tired, and discouraged at times. So what do we do? What can we do?

First, I would suggest that we realize we are not alone. This is not a new phenomenon to hit our age and time. There are countless people in the Bible who had circumstances and times when they were weary and discouraged: Elijah wanted to die from discouragement only one chapter after defeating the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 19). David grew weary. In Psalm 69:3 he wrote: “I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.” God must have known we would struggle with this feeling for there are multiple reminders in the New Testament to not grow weary (Galatians 6:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:13; Hebrews 12:3).

Secondly, I would recommend looking to Christian friends for encouragement. In the Old Testament, early in their journey away from Egypt, the Israelites were attacked by the Amalekites. When Moses would hold up his hand with the staff of God, the Israelites prevailed. But Moses got tired. Talk about pressure! If he couldn’t keep his hands raised, warriors from his people were being killed before his eyes. But if we keep reading in Exodus 17, we see that his brothers helped him. They came, brought him a rock on which to sit, and they help his hands up. When I am feeling discouraged, I need to look to my Christian brothers and sisters for encouragement and help. Galatians 6:2 reminds us to “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Finally, take your cares to a loving God who is, after all, the only one who sees the big picture and knows the whole situation. He knows why you feel this way and when you will stop. In 1 Peter 5:7, we are told to cast our cares on Him, “for He cares for you.” Talking to Him and reading what He tells us in His word is the best way to set ourselves back on a path to peace and contentment. The situation may not change. You may not be able to avoid the source of your discouragement, but you can change your reaction to it.

Psalm 131

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.

O Israel, hope in the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore.

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AUTHOR: Amber Tatum