I chatted on the phone with a friend not long ago, and we swapped snapshots of what’s going on in our lives. After sharing how the spouses, kids, and jobs were getting along, this friend asked me those four plain but powerful words: “How are you doing?” And because she isn’t interested in over-sifted I’m fine! answers, I knew she wouldn’t settle for less than total honesty.
So I told her the straight up truth: “I feel endlessly tired, ridiculously so. And really, I’ve been saying this for a long time. Why can’t I just snap out of it?”
She asked me to tell her more, so I said: “Ya know, I have several hard things coming at me from different angles, and many of them just aren’t going away. I’m realizing that the lingering is just a fact of life. I don’t anticipate the weight lifting anytime soon, and I’m worn out from the load.”
She warmly listened as she always does, agreeing with me that given all this, I had good reason to be tired.
And that’s when I noticed my tears slipping south.
Oh, what a kindness it is to have someone listen to you and say, “You know, given all that, you have good reason to feel the way you do.”
What a relief it is to find a heart advocate who hears you, who validates what you’re feeling.
Let me tell you, I don’t generally say these kinds of things to myself. Instead, I say things like, Okay, so these things aren’t taking a permanent vacation anytime soon and you’re tired. So what? Nobody cares that you have 3 teenagers in your house and you’re busy and have a lot on your plate. Countless others are dealing with countless more. You need to get a grip, lady, and get it yesterday.
Do you also have an inner critic who is never too tired for a tongue-lashing?
What if instead of listening to the inner critic who never tires of being against us, we listened to our Creator who is always, always for us?
God is not in cahoots with that critic, and He certainly isn’t that voice Himself. He stands in contrast to it, and His Son stands in victory over it.
“From such a vantage, He is able to save those who approach God through Him for all time because He will forever live to be their advocate in the presence of God.” {Hebrews 7:25}
Jesus is not our adversary, He is our advocate. And if He never expected us to get worn out, He never would have needed to remind us: “rest in Me.”
I don’t know what difficulties won’t leave your lap today. I wish they would take a permanent vacation — so you could get a permanent vacation from them.
But if in the meantime they’re totally wearing you out, let me look you in the eyes and say, “You know, you have good reason to feel the way you do.”
There will be seasons when hard things hangs on even after you try to shove them out the door. Just don’t shove hope out instead.
Because while the wind howls and the lion roars, the Lamb reigns.
Christ is with you, alongside you as you do only what today requires you do. The next time your thoughts try to nudge you towards hopelessness and condemnation, turn away from them and let them crash to the floor. Hush that bully-critic and listen to your Creator. Can you hear Him?
He says, “You know, given all this, you have good reason to feel the way you do. But I have good reason for allowing what I do, and I promise it will be okay.”
May we not separate ourselves from this truth.
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