WEARY

Sunday devotional 3/3/13 

We all grow weary at times.  Sometimes it may be a physical fatigue with working extremely hard, sleeping poorly or not enough, or staying up late trying to get more done.  Our weariness may be emotional, such as when loads of stress overwhelm us, when losses of loved ones or friends grieve us, or when constantly helping others saps us of our strength. We may even find ourselves spiritually depleted, perhaps from boredom when in a spiritual rut, or from resentments for injustices we suffered, or from wondering how God could let horrible things happen over and over again in this world. When we are depleted in any or all of these ways, we may find it hard to focus, difficult to take care of ourselves, and nearly impossible to be of the best help to others. When we grow so weary that it is hard to stand on our own two feet, we can remember to go to God on our knees in prayer and rest in his arms.

We may feel as though we are taxing to God in our demands that He answer all our prayers the way we see fit, or in coming to him with seemingly trivial requests in the grand scheme of things.  Or perhaps we keep coming back to him with the same issues over and over again, or ask that he forgive us yet again for slipping up in the same way.  Maybe we even ask him to forgive us for the same incident over and over because we just don't "feel" forgiven or wonder if we prayed right the other times or with enough repentance in our hearts.  We may wonder how God can possibly understand our failures, our inadequacies and our limitations.  But we can take comfort in knowing he most certainly does understand.  Thankfully, our God never wearies of hearing from us, and he provides us with refreshing strength and power according to his will! 

Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Isaiah 40:28-29  NIV

Dear Lord, please hear me as I pray in my weariness.  Fill me with your amazing strength and power.  Help me through the fatigue, the stress, the grief, and the depletion.  Remove from me any resentments and questioning of your Divine power and plan.  Help me to understand that I do not need to know why or how things will work out, but that I need only to trust in you fully and rest in your loving arms.  In Jesus' name I pray,  Amen.

written by Jan Andersen