It seems that everywhere I go, and everyone I talk with complains of being tired! It doesn’t matter young or old, when I asked how they are doing, the response is almost always, “I’m tired.” I was walking with a friend this week and she was telling me that she recently went for her yearly physical. As she was leaving, the nurse stopped and asked her if she wastired. She responded with, “I’m always tired.” The nurse leaned in and said, “I may have something that would help you.” She proceeded to tell my friend that she’d been taking Geritol, just a teaspoon every other day. She now has so much energy that she hardly knows what to do with herself. We both agreed that Geritol reminded us of our grandparents and that we weren’t quite ready for that!
Our two daughters are at the stage of life where they seem to remain in a state of tired. Our oldest is homeschooling her four children, ages 9 down to three. Our youngest daughter has three children, ages 6 down to 8 months. We were recently in Texas visiting her and the family. Lila, the eight month old, seems to love to wake up off and on all night long – she doesn’t want to sleep. Why sleep when you can babble and play with your feet? Her parents on the other hand love sleep, which they are lacking due to Lila’s unpredictable sleeping pattern. To say the least, Kelly and Robbie are tired, physically and emotionally tired!
I began thinking about our culture and the fact that no matter the age, everyone is tired. I wondered why in a time of such advanced technological support, wealth, fast food service, and personal luxuries- such as, remote controlled everything, iPhones, iPads, housekeeping services, manicures, pedicures, massages, vacations to the beach etc., are people so tired? Is it an epidemic? Is this the first generation to suffer withtired? How does God feel about our perpetual state of tired? Have the past generations been this tired? How did they survive?
What is it that is causing us such weariness, exhaustion, and tiredness? I believe it could very well be several things: over commitment, a sense that we must do everything we are asked to do, an effort to keep up with the “Jones”, inability to say “No” to our children, a sense of competition, a lack of contentment, lust, greed, feelings of inadequacy, wasted time – computers, television etc., and a belief that if we are busy we are accomplishing something.
Not long ago, I was reading through some journals of my great grandmother. As I read each day’s activities, I was struck with the amount of time gardening and cooking, baking cookies, the evenings spent playing games together as a family, the time gathered around the piano singing and the visits with neighbors on the front porch. Church was a vital part of the week’s activities, but always in balance with the other activities of life. There was Sunday morning worship and what my great grandmother called the mid-week Prayer Service. Life seemed much more low-key, slower, relaxed and enjoyable. Not once was the word tired ever mentioned in either of these two journals- amazing!
I looked up the word tiredin the concordance section of my Bible and found a couple of scripture references. The definition given was drained of strength and energy. That just about covers it! Then I looked up the word rest and I found many scriptural references. The word rest is closely associated with the word restored. When we take time to rest we are restored – physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
The first rest scripture in the Bible is in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. God did His work and then He rested. “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.” (Genesis 2:2) Rest is vital to our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. If we don’t make rest a priority in our lives, we will end up tired all the time and when we are tired we are drained of strength and energy- not good to anyone! God wants us rested so we will be useful to Him and His kingdom.
Our source of strength is found in Him and in His word. If we are over-committed, running here and there; never still and quiet, we cannot listen to the Father. How can we possibly hear Him who speaks in the stillness amidst all our chaos and busyness?
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
“Rest in the Lord.” Psalm 37:7
“With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees.” Isaiah 35:3
Dianne