When you’re weary, do you ever stop to discern why?
Are you weary because you are not doing the things you want — or need — to do?
Or are you weary because you are doing the things you do not want — or need — to do?
It’s a question worth asking … and a question worth answering.
Sometimes we’re weary just because life demands so much from us. There are seasons that are just going to be exhausting.
And sometimes, well, sometimes we’re weary because we’re demanding so much from ourselves.
And it’s the wrong stuff. We forgot to say no. Or we keep saying yes … and yes … and yes … to the wrong people and the wrong things …
and there’s no time, no room in our lives for for those things, those people who need a yes.
And maybe, just maybe … we are one of those people that we’ve crowded out of our lives.
In Others’ Words: So which is it for you: weariness because you’re not doing what you want (need) to do or weariness because you’re doing what you do not want (need) to do? (Yes, go ahead. Read it twice. If you’re tired, you just may have to.)
What’s making you weary? The doing or the not doing? Click to Tweet
For the weary ones … taking time to ask why Click to Tweet
Comments 9
Wow. My husband and I were just talking about this very thing at 2:30 this morning. Our answers are ‘yes’ to doing, ‘yes’ to not doing, and ‘yes’ because life demands so much from us while we are still grieving. I am just thankful that we can talk about these things, even if it is the middle of the night, which creates its own weariness 🙂
It takes almost forever to get weary doing fun things. Doing the mundane and uninspiring is draining. I got more weary from my needed job than the actual effort put out–it limited imagination and expression though performing necessary tasks. I took financial risk to retire but love what I’m doing and new doors and friendships it has opened.
I’ve answered yes to both questions at various times in my life. That two-letter word, N-O, has relieved some weariness, but there are times when life forces me into a mode of weary that is hard to overcome.
I think the emotional energy drain from not doing what I want/need to do adds to weariness, when I’m doing the necessary (keeping up with schedules, responsibilities, appointments), but not the desired (writing).
Praying for you today.
God and I were just talking about this topic this morning. We didn’t use the term “weary” but that is exactly what we meant. I am weary because I’m not doing the things I need to do, i.e. working on my business and household responsibilities, spending time with God consistently, spending time in relationship with others, exercise, eating good food. I am weary because of health and just plain life challenges that have been dealt to me.
The answer that I received regarding these “weary busters” is I need to first focus on a relationship with God and not just focusing on hearing His voice. Next, I need to rid myself of the distractions that are getting in the way of me doing the things I need to do. My theme verse this year I believe will be Proverbs 21:5: “Steady plodding brings prosperity; hasty speculation brings poverty.” (TLB) I like the NASB version too: “The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.”
I tend to be impatient with myself about not getting result from my labor quickly. I have received the truth from this verse that I need to work at my purpose with steady diligence and the results are God’s domain, not mine. It’s His purpose and He is responsible for the outcome. I am responsible for being obedient and working consistently and diligently on what He has called me to do. If I’m hasty and impatient with myself in the work that I’m called to do, I will find poverty. Poverty spiritually. Poverty emotionally. Poverty physically. And probably even poverty financially too.
Thanks for the great post. It really spoke to me. With the help of the Holy Spirit, I can see you both were double teaming me today!
Haha, I did have to read that question at the end a few times. 🙂
I smiled during your post because just last night I talked with two different friends AND my mom about the busyness thing…and how it’s wearying us…and how to decide what to say no to and what to say yes to and what to do when you feel like you’ve said no to everything you possibly can and you’re still overwhelmed.
Those are the times, I guess, when you say, “Okay, God, you promised to be my Helper. So…a little help, please?” 🙂
I’m plumb worn out from anything these days!
Seriously – right now even what I want to do is exhausting. I figure that if I can sit up, I can stand, if I can stand I can walk, and if I can walk I can work.
Yes, apparently so, but illness, pain and fatigue have narrowed everything down to the singularity of survival.
If I can get through another day, I’ve won, for now.
(Sorry if the above is disjointed…weariness, you know!)
What I was trying to say – and not well – is that when the things we want to do are exhausting, and seem beyond our efforts – that is when they are the most needed.
Survival doesn’t run on medicine or radiation or chemo – it runs on hope, on a projection past pain, past despair to what Churchill called ‘the broad, sunlit uplands’.
The deployment and servicing of that hope can be exhausting, and the game may not seem worth the candle. But it is, because it lifts us outside ourselves, to the point where God can truly work on us.
Great topic. Sometimes I think we try too hard to do everything that’s tossed at us, instead of focusing on the one thing God asks us to do at any given moment. Trying to take on things not designed for us is destined to make us weary… because it’s not what we were created for.
Right now, I’m trying to focus on those things God created me for: tutoring, writing, proofing, and spending time with my family and friends.
If God asks me to alter my efforts to include something else, I will do so. If He doesn’t, then the word no will be on my lips when people ask me to pitch in. I can’t take on more than what God asks. If I do, I’ll become too weary.
Blessings,
Andrea
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