tired, but…
By: Random Reflections
Tags: Christian Living, Christianity, Christian

“I’m so tired.”

It recently occurred to me that this phrase crosses my mind and my lips a ridiculous number of times every day. Wake up in the morning: tired. Sitting there at work: tired. Driving home in traffic after work: tired. Meeting up with a friend: tired. I started to wonder, would there ever be a point in my life when I wasn’t tired? Sometimes I try to justify it; that it’s because I’m an introvert, because I’m a type 2 Enneagram, and because I tend to overextend myself on a regular basis. But even when I have days to myself with no social plans whatsoever, I still find myself…tired. Am I doing something wrong? Am I just complaining too much?

The more awareness I’ve obtained of my own use of this phrase, the more I’ve also realized just how tired other people are too. It almost seems like people are practically competing for who is the most tired, or at least competing for who deserves to be the most tired. I think I’m starting to realize that everyone is tired. And being tired isn’t something that is going to magically disappear one day. I still have this small ounce of hope that someday I’ll finally master the art of being energized. Maybe if I become “holy” enough then I’ll become unstoppable because I’ll be drinking from the living water 24/7…But until that day, I have to accept the fact that I am human and I have physical, mental, and emotional limitations. Sometimes I still optimistically tell myself that if I can just get through this busy season, then I’ll be able to rest later…but let’s be honest, life never goes the way we want it to and life never seems to slow down. The world just keeps getting busier and we all keep getting more and more tired.

So…then what?

It seems kind of discouraging trying to swallow the fact that we will all perpetually be tired for the rest of our lives. So this is what got me thinking: Maybe we’ll always be tired; but maybe it’s also okay to be tired because we know that we have a “but”.

Here’s what I mean….

When I wake up early in the morning: “I’m tired, but now I get to spend time with God in prayer and reading His word.”

Sitting there at work: “I’m tired, but I have a job that I love, that pays the bills, and that is all because of God’s generosity and His trust. I know that I work as an act of love and submission, and that none of the work I am doing is in vain.”

Driving home in traffic after work: “I’m tired, but I know that everyone else around me is tired too, so I can show them even more patience and love.”

Meeting up with a friend: “I’m tired, but I’m so thankful for the people God has placed in my life and I’m so excited to see His work in the lives of those around me.”

I’m not trying to downplay being tired, because like I said earlier, we all have our limits. It’s definitely important to be aware of those limits and to take care of yourself. But I know that for me personally, I find myself using the excuse of being tired way too often. What if instead, I turned this tiredness into gratitude? What if I chose joy, thankfulness, and hope? What if instead of competing for why I should get the most praise for doing the most/being the most tired, I instead pointed all of the praise back to God?

Life is tiring. No one ever said it wouldn’t be. But we know that we’re running this race for an incredible prize at the finish line; we know that we’re not running this race alone. Every bit of exhaustion, every ounce of struggle, and every moment of weakness will all be worth it, because no matter how tiring this life may get, we can have complete faith and confidence knowing that there is always more to the phrase, “I’m tired”. That we can have purpose and intentionality behind what we do, and that we can ultimately rejoice knowing that there is a worthy God behind it all.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1–2