Spiritual Tiredness | Rest

Are you spiritually tired and fatigued?

Tired of attempting to show God you’re not a waste of His love?

Tired of wrestling with sin? Tired of waiting on God?

Tired of being faithful to your job, spouse, or ministry?

Feeling tired is a symptom

Spiritual weariness is something every saint this side of heaven is acquainted with. But what about when that weariness is long term? Creeping into our lives, making us feel burdened with the weight of continuing on?

We must recognize, like all types of tiredness, that there is often a reason we feel tired. Are your eyelids drooping? You probably aren’t getting enough sleep. Are your arms weak? You either are working out too much, or not enough. Tiredness is a symptom of a deeper reality; so it is with our spiritual weariness. There is a distinction to be made, however, between being tired from time to time (which is a sign of healthy labor) and staying tired. When the latter happens, we need to take a more serious look inside, what are the symptoms revealing?

improper labor

• We stay spiritually tired because we fail to rest, always working for God. (“But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made…“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,  but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”) - Luke 10:38-42

• We stay spiritually tired because we believe the wrong things. It is easy for us to think we must work (morally) to earn God’s love. That’s exhausting and impossible. (For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.) -Ephesians 2:8-9

• We stay spiritually tired because we are not honest. It’s not that we never get tired, but are we placing ourselves in places to be encouraged to continue on? Isolation and solitude are two different things. (Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.) -Galatians 6:2

• We stay spiritually tired because we do not repent of sin. Thinking that rest can be found in sinful means. Example: Tired of being an abstinent single? Lust whispers it can offer you rest from that fight. ("My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns (sin), broken cisterns that cannot hold water.) - Jeremiah 2:13

Another kind of labor

Long-term spiritual weariness usually comes from improper labor. (see above for examples) The answer to our weariness isn’t spiritual laziness, for that leads to it’s own problem. The answer is in another kind of labor. A kind of knowing.

Ultimately we grow spiritually tired because we fail to spend time with, honor, and properly worship God. It seems counter intuitive, doesn’t it? The temptation is to think, “I’m so tired, isn’t going to God just one more thing to do?” Yes, but when kids are tired after a long day do they not long to crawl into their fathers arms and fall asleep? Is that not a form of honoring? When we are weary after a long week of labor, do we not long to enjoy the company of our friends and family? So it is with Jesus.

Weary saint, are there any sweeter words you could hear from your Jesus this morning than Matthew 11:28-30:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

In Jesus’ words we see the reversal of every problem listed above, found in Him. There is one type of work that leads to rest in the Kingdom of God. Following and knowing Jesus. And that promise was bought by the work done on the cross.

Working to rest in Jesus,

Josh.

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