A Word for the Weary

Do you ever get weary? In reality, all of us do. Life is just not easy, and it takes its toll on us. We all face situations that are overwhelming, and the more we try to solve them, the more exhausted we become. We all have times of physical or mental fatigue, frustration from immovable obstacles in our paths, or discouragement. Did you know that God knows that we face these things, and that He has provided us a way to deal with these types of situations? In Isaiah 40:28-30 you can read what God spoke to Israel when they were in a time of despondency and discouragement. To those people in that situation, God spoke a message of hope and of a promise for renewed power.

Whenever we are stressed or tired, we are likely to be accident prone or to behave inappropriately. It is at these times that we cannot think straight, we are obsessed with our problems, and we are not paying much attention to what we are doing, or how we are doing it. It is also under stress that we often say things we don’t mean to say, and hurt the people we don’t want to hurt.

When we are overwhelmed with life’s problems, we need a resource larger than ourselves. The very reason we are stressed or overwhelmed is because we are dealing with something beyond our resources. It is at times like these that we are wise to turn to God for help. It is God who can renew our strength; it is God who can intervene in our physical situation; it is God who really has the power and wisdom to do something about the difficulties we find ourselves in. Of course, God expects our participation and cooperation as He becomes involved in the solution to our difficulties, but it is God who has the supernatural power to do what you and I are unable to do.

In Isaiah 40:28-30, God explains why we should turn to Him for help. God can help us because He is the everlasting God (He outlives our difficulties), because He is our Creator (He knows our capabilities and limitations, strengths and weaknesses), He never faints or becomes exhausted (He can be a perpetual source of energy for us), and there are no limitations upon His understanding (He understands what we are facing, and nothing can stump Him)! Furthermore, we are told to turn to God because He is willing and able to give us strength when we are weary or feeling powerless.

At the end of this passage, God gives us an excellent illustration of how He can help us. God says that if we will wait on the Lord (which literally means to trust God and intertwine our lives with God), He will renew our strength and give us the power to soar again like an eagle. I wish to illustrate this with an incident from my life.

I once had borrowed a kite, and while using it the string broke and the kite began to fly away. The kite had a bird with outstretched wings painted on it. I chased the runaway kite up the mountain, jumping sagebrush as I went, asking God to let the kite come back down so that I could return it to its owner. After pursuing the kite for perhaps a thousand feet, it suddenly began to descend, flapping and fluttering like a real bird that had lost the wind, or had a wounded wing. I was rejoicing, thanking God that the kite was coming down so that I could return it to its owner. When the kite got about fifty feet above the ground, suddenly a gush of wind swooped in under it, and snapped the wings out with a “pop.” The kite had suddenly been given new life as an updraft straightened its wings and caused it to begin to soar. It soared and soared, higher and higher. I watched the kite until it was so high, and so far away, that I could no longer see it.

I lost the kite, but learned a great lesson. When we are out of energy, flapping and fluttering as we try to stay aloft, if we will stretch out our wings and entrust our lives to the invisible God, the Holy Spirit of God will swoop into our lives, lift us up, and cause us to soar once again like an eagle.