ME-ssentials – TIRED – Day Twenty-Two
ESSENTIALS for Me NOT to Be: TIRED
September 22nd, 2021
What’s your ESSENTIAL?
Essential: absolutely necessary; indispensable; the essence of a thing; inherent and intrinsic, vital
Just as there are so many ESSENTIALS for me to be, there are just as many ESSENTIALS for me NOT to be. Let’s explore those the other half of this month!
Romans 8:26-28, ‘Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayers out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.’ (MSG)
1 Thessalonians 5:19, ‘Never restrain or put out the fire of the Holy Spirit.’ (TPT)
I’m tired. Maybe more tired than I’ve ever been. I think life is tired, wore out. I wonder if we are losing it, just plain giving up. It takes a lot of gumption these days to adult, to pull on my big girl panties and make responsible choices, deep decisions, life-altering plans. I’d rather stay in bed most days; see if maybe the sun comes up tomorrow and has more to offer. As I type these words, I think, wow! ;that’s transparent; that’s a heavy load to lay on my readers; hit edit and backspace right back out of that sentence. But I’m going to leave it. Because I think many of us are feeling this way. And if you’re not, maybe you’re just not being honest with yourself or others about it or perhaps imbibing on a few too many mood-enhancing self-helps.
However, I obviously can’t make it through day after day with my adulting issues chasing me down and tossing my hope in the gutter with yesterday’s trash, and we all know, one can’t pay the bills and keep up appearances while buried in a heap of blankets, pillows, and pajamas. So what do we do when we are this fatigued by life, when we have run out and yet the clock still ticks, when an ocean of deep planning and stunning sunsets has suddenly dried up and turned tumultuous; how do we recover?
That’s when your Helper takes over. He understands you far better than you can imagine. In fact, He knows you intimately. That is He who won’t let you give up. That is He who won’t let you give in. That is He who won’t let you take that handful of sleeping pills so you never wake up. You won’t thank Him right now, but you will someday. Someday when the grandbabies wrap their warm bodies around you and trace their sticky fingers across your tear-stained face, and murmur, ‘I wove you, Grammy.’ Someday when the world is righted and you’re still standing, not sure how but you are. Someday when that sun hits the back of your neck and you can feel it all the way down in your toes. Someday when the fight is over and the joy fills the empty space with peace and His presence. He is the reason that your prayers get mumbled and heard and answered, the prayer that keeps you holding on for just one more day. Don’t send Him away or hold Him back. You need Him. The Helper, you desperately need.
Jeremiah 31:25, ‘I’ll refresh tired bodies; I’ll restore tired souls.’ (MSG)
