It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. | Hebrews 12:7–14
I am tired. Some of this comes with the territory. As a father of six (two of whom have been sick in the last few weeks), a pastor, and an active community member, my time is filled. This is not a complaint, because there are a lot of benefits to being worn out: getting things done, sleeping well at night, and not having the time to over-analyze things being a few. The point here is not to argue for or against working hard (yet), but to address the response that I usually get to this comment.
When I tell people that I am tired, more often than not, the first response is to lighten my load. People try to convince me to pull back from some commitments, to say no to more, and to do some ‘self-care.’ While I genuinely appreciate people being concerned for my well-being, I am not convinced that doing less is the solution. Even more than that, I don’t think that being tired is bad. If we live this life for God’s glory, I don’t know how we could be anything but tired. Ephesians 2:10 tells us:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
If we are walking in the ways that God has prepared and commanded us: to evangelize, to pursue holiness, and to love our neighbors, we are going to be worn down. Especially if we are doing these things in a society that is fighting against God’s sovereignty. In order to not be tired, we would have to forego what God has called us to.
The reason why I mention this is because I know a lot of people are tired. Even those who are not following God’s way feel beat down by expectations, change, and a sense of unknown toward the future. If we believe that peace and leisure is the goal, we will respond to this fatigue by trying to organize our lives to avoid it. If being tired is the enemy, then we will always think first about lightening the load. What we will do is pursue a life free from the burdens that make us tired. We will put down good things, cut out people who God has placed in our lives, and move to the next thing so often that we never see the fruit of struggle. A lot gets sacrificed on the altar of comfort.
The Bible gives us a different option. Rather than demonizing exhaustion and organizing your life to avoid being tired, difficulty is given a purpose. It is the love of our Heavenly Father shown to us as He conforms us to His image. It is the difficult process of becoming holy. It is a means for us to recognize our frailty so that we turn to God for strength and the hope of redemption. Discipline, the process of being shaped through strain, yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
We need to be careful not to idolize busy, feeling justified by our work ethic; we also need to admit that trying to find heaven on earth is a fruitless endeavor. You may think that you held it for a moment, or that it is just over the horizon, but this is chasing after the wind (as Ecclesiastes describes it). The perfect balance that we all seek is a real thing, but it will not be found by mastering our schedules, finding the perfect place to live, or engaging only with the things that spark joy. It will only be found by resting in the living hope that has been given to us in Christ, awaiting the day when we will be with Him in perfection. With that future in mind, live out God’s truth in a way that will make you tired, but will also produce healing.
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
Are you tired? Thank God for this opportunity to see His goodness in the midst of this broken world.