Tired?
Minister’s Letter: January 2023
Dear Grace Church,
“How are you doing?”
How might you answer that? I think our answers normally fall into three usual answers (wording may vary):
I’m okay/fine/grand
You know, I’m pretty good actually
Tired!
It’s this third one that I’d like to spend just a bit of time contemplating in this month’s letter.
Now, I’m not claiming to be an expert, but in our house, we have found it helpful to distinguish between the different types and experiences of tiredness. These are just the words we use, you might find other ways to describe these experiences (and if you can think of others, please do share them). I share them in the hope they might prove beneficial to some reading this. We have thought of three main categories:
Fatigued refers to a physical exhaustion. It is a tiredness of the body. This is when our organs and limbs have been pushed, sometimes to their ceiling. Our limits will vary due to age, fitness levels, illness and a number of other factors.
Weariness describes when we are mentally worn out. This is something that I have struggled with personally a number of times. It is when your mind struggles to process or join together different pieces of information. The way I’ve described is my brain feeling like when you try to push the north poles of a magnet together. They not only won’t stick, they repel one another. This can be a short experience late at night when your body is shutting down or can last for longer stretches of time. But it is incredibly frustrating.
Jaded concerns that state when we become quickly cynical or easily exasperated with other people. Our tolerance levels have grown low with the people, institutions and ideas that populate our lives. We just feel fed up. The very real danger of this state is falling into grumbling and bitterness.
These are not mutually exclusive. They cause, collide and collude with one another. But it is helpful to distinguish to know the particular challenges to each and the potential pathways for us to take.
Too easy when we are tired, we can become enslaved by the emotions attached to it. But the true response is not to then detach ourselves from our experience and lean into an unattainable objectivity separate from your situation. What God invites us to do is press into the truth of his word.
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
(Isaiah 40.28)
We are vulnerable and subject to the chances and changes of this life. Your grandchildren learn to walk and you become fatigued chasing after them. Your boss moves your deadline forward and you are wearied as you lose any chance of a rest over the weekend. Your friend cancels your dinner for the third time in two weeks and you grow jaded with all the effort in trying to meet them.
And so God invites us to come to him. He is the one who never lets us down because he never grows tired. And so because he never can grow tired, he is immutable. Immutable it a big word that theologians use. It means unchangeable. God is unchanging. Who he was on the day you were born is the same God he is now. Who he will be on the day of Christ’s return is who he was before the creation of the world.
As Spurgeon inimitably expressed it,
“He remains everlastingly the same. There are no furrows on His eternal brow. No age has palsied Him, no years have marked Him with the mementos of their flight. He sees ages pass, but with Him it is ever now. He is the great I AM—the Great Unchangeable.”
And here’s the good news for us. The immutable God is immovable in his commitment and love towards us. Whatever category of tiredness we find ourselves in, it affects the way we are towards others. I can think of an instance recently where someone made a joke to me and because I was weary I just ignored them. But God never tires. So he never changes into his relationship to us. His promises are sure and his love is certain.
This doesn’t not deny or negate practical steps for us to take. When we are tired, it’s beneficial to adjust our routines and practices, understanding that we are not capable of what we were at 100%. “No” is an important response we need to be able to utter. Our limitations are real. And it is good to listen to them. Get to bed that bit earlier. Take an afternoon nap if possible. Call it a siesta if that makes it feel more legit.
We must change and adapt to the fluid and often turbulent circumstances in our lives.
But the one constant we have is Jesus, who is the same yesterday, today and forever. And here is the one who tenderly invites us all to:
‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
In Christ,
C.R.K.
January Treats
As I’ve prepped the series on the Lord’s Prayer and meditated on the truth of Jesus’s instruction, I’ve found these songs below a real help. You probably won’t like every one, but hopefully one at least will sing in the right key for you.