Dear downhearted,
You’re not alone. I’m weary too. Sometimes just knowing that helps. What’s making you weary? Not sure? That’s when you really know you’re weary. You’re exhausted and overwhelmed and don’t even know why. Slow down for a moment; it will probably come to you. Me? I think that I am weary from all the unknown and the seemingly endless stream of decisions that attend this season. I think that the decisions are the most challenging part for me. It’s wearying to make so many decisions, and I tend to trouble my troubles by wondering if I’ve made the right ones. But enough about me. Has it come to you yet? Do you have an idea why you’re weary? Whatever it is, I want to share with you my favorite weariness passage: Isaiah 40:27-31.
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
In Isaiah 40:27-31, the Lord has three things to say to both of us in our weariness.
Your way is not hidden from the Lord. Verse 27 is a response to the voice that you hear in your head when you’re weary: “The Lord doesn’t see me. I’m alone.” My weary friend, let’s not trouble our troubles by believing the lie that God is distant or disinterested. He sees us in our weariness, he loves us in our weariness, and he’s near to us in our weariness. Your way isn’t hidden from him.
He’s not weary. He’s everlasting; he has no beginning and isn’t going anywhere. He’s the creator; he’s never had to depend on anyone for anything, ever. He’s never faint or weary; he never has to catch his breath or get a good night’s sleep. His understanding is unsearchable; He’s never confused, nothing is unknown for him, and he works out everything perfectly. He’s not weary.
He loves to give power to the weary. As Ray Ortlund Jr. says, “God never suffers setbacks, and he helps those who do.” The Lord loves to give strength to weary people who wait upon him. Waiting on the Lord is savoring God’s promise by faith until the time of fulfillment (Ortlund). My weary friend, let’s take our weariness to the Lord and wait upon him. He is strong and he loves to provide endless supplies of strength to weary people.
Your weary and strengthened friend,
Pastor Matt