Isaiah 40:31 (Tired)

HOW TO FIND REST FOR A WEARY SOUL (Part 1/4)

“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” (Isaiah 40:31).

Aren’t we all incredibly tired these days?

It seems most of us are exhausted because we’re stretched too thin and pulled in countless directions by everything under the sun. How then do we remedy the problem and experience physical, emotional, spiritual, and psychological revival in our hearts and minds?

Isaiah 40:31 reminds us amid our weariness and fatigue to look upon the Lord as our source of strength and power when we feel like we can’t take another step or make it another day. For He is our portion, satisfying the desperate need of our souls in seasons of trial.

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him’” (Lamentations 3:22–24).

However, sometimes we just don’t want to hear what God has to say because we’re simply too tired to listen. Our tanks are empty, we’re running on fumes, and our minds are overwhelmed to the point where Biblical truth has no avenue to break through the clutter and expel the doubts, fears, worries, and frustrations we’re struggling with.

Granted, it’s not that we fail to value Scripture as life-giving power. We know we should trust God amid the trials we face, but we’re just sick and tired of riding a never-ending, emotional rollercoaster to the point where we’re tempted to lash out from sheer exhaustion and desperation.

Truthfully, many of us are at a crossroads in our faith where if people tell us, “You just need to trust God!” we’re liable to hurt them because sometimes we don’t want to hear encouraging words of wisdom. What we want is a sounding board or punching bag to release the pent up stress we’ve been carrying for far too long.

However, if we could shift our perspective and consider fatigue as an opportunity to draw closer to the Lord, perhaps we’d be less concerned about avoiding a nervous breakdown and more focused on discovering God’s grace and peace through the trials we face.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2–4).

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REST:

The quintessential fountain of all wisdom on the topic of finding strength and rest is found in Matthew 11:28–30. For it reminds us to exchange our worldly struggles with the yoke of being a disciple of Jesus, because He promises freedom from the anxieties and trouble of this world to those who trust Him.

“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” (Matthew 11:28–30).

When we read a passage like Matthew 11:28–30, though, our flesh tends to reject it as too good to be true. Human reason takes over and we think, “How could God literally change my circumstances right now?” Yet despite our doubt, Jesus waits patiently till we’re finally willing to relent our pride and try again His way.

Our biggest problem with rest is we don’t plan for it. It’s simply a byproduct of our schedules, which means if time allows, we’ll rest. If not, we’ll just continue getting used to being tired which only exasperates the problem further.

Is that really what God wants, though? Does He take pleasure watching us grind our way through life, feeling like all hope is lost and assuming our prayers won’t be answered? Certainly not! He wants us to rest in Him. However, He also understands that sometimes we need to cry on His shoulder all that’s on our hearts before we can hear what His plan of salvation is to rescue us from emotional bondage.

“We all know we need rest from work, but we don’t realize we have to work hard just to rest. We have to plan for breaks. We have to schedule time to be unscheduled. That’s the way life is for most of us. Scattered, frantic, boundary-less busyness comes naturally. The rhythms of work and rest require planning.”

— Kevin DeYoung

God wants us to let go of our fearful, worrisome, and doubtful burdens, and take His yoke upon our shoulders instead. He’s looking for us to exchange our yoke of slavery to worry, doubt, and anxiety (which binds us to the demands of this world) for one which promises eternal freedom and produces peace and contentment.

That is why rest is so critical to breaking the monotony of stress and anxiety in our lives. For by shifting our perspective and prioritizing quiet time with God, we can emotionally purge what’s on our minds so that our hearts have ample room to receive the promises of His Word.

“It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:8).
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

WEARINESS:

The challenge is oftentimes we become so psychologically overwhelmed that when trials crash like a tidal wave upon the shore of our minds, we feel as if we’re drowning amongst rising water without any chance for survival or rescue.

Granted, the enemy would love nothing more than to capsize our faith with anxiety and turn our lives upside down, but we cannot let him. We must hold firm to the anchor of God’s Word which steadies our faith and stops us from being tossed aimlessly by the storms of life. How then do we let go of all things weighing heavily upon our minds and trust in the Lord?

King David struggled similarly. Despite being a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), He wore his emotions on his sleeve and left no stone unturned voicing his unfiltered thoughts and opinions before the Lord concerning his difficult circumstances. The boldness of his accusations against God are striking! However, they mirror how many of us feel at times when we assume God is distant from us.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest” (Psalm 22:1–2).

Yet despite David’s emotional outbursts (Psalm 22:1–2), he always managed to immediately counter his fleshly emotions with Biblical truth (Psalm 22:3–5) by washing his mind with the promises of Scripture as a means of protecting his heart from losing faith in God’s sovereign provision.

“Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame” (Psalm 22:3–5).

David’s example should encourage us mightily because it means God is longsuffering with us when we question the “WHY?” behind trials we’re facing. He is not so easily offended as we might presume, but waits patiently to see whether we’ll camp out in the valley of despair or shift direction and preach the Good News of His Gospel to our hearts to embolden our faith.

Therefore, the remedy to weariness is not swallowing our emotions or keeping busy enough to avoid our problems. Rather, we are empowered to flush out our feelings and lay them at the foot of the cross where they can be atoned for and reconciled.

For the longer we allow negative feelings to fester, the more enslaved we become to depression. And if our frustration has no means to escape our minds through prayer, there is no remedy to purge our hearts from the deadly poison of anger and bitterness which seeks to destroy us from within.

“Revival is not a green valley getting greener, but a valley full of dry bones being made to live again and stand up an exceeding great army (Ezek. 37). It is not good Christians becoming better Christians – but rather Christians honestly confessing that their Christian life is a valley of dry bones and by that very confession qualifying for the grace that flows from the cross and makes all things new.”

— Roy Hession

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RENEWAL:

God wants us to cry upon His shoulder, so long as our faith is not shaken but affirmed in the process. For His goal is not simply to drown out our emotions and deem our feelings as insignificant, but to allow us to purge our hearts of negativity to make room for blessing and spiritual renewal in return.

That is why tears are a healthy means to an end for those who are lost and hurting. They allow us to physically release emotions bound up within us which need to be set free. Tears are God’s sovereign medicine for the soul because they draw us out from the ashes and give us permission to communicate our deepest thoughts and feelings without any need for words.

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him” (Psalm 126:5–6).

This is an area where men can learn a tremendous amount of wisdom from women, for they are naturally geared to express their emotions freely compared to men who are taught by culture to not express themselves through tears for fear of being labeled as weak.

Jesus, however, wept openly and often. John’s Gospel reminds us that “Jesus wept” (John 11:35) when He was overwhelmed with emotion; not only over the death of His beloved, friend Lazarus, but because of the impact it had on His dear friends, Mary and Martha. Jesus also wept over the city of Jerusalem, knowing beforehand how they would vehemently reject Him and His Gospel of salvation.

“And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation’” (Luke 19:41–44).

Renewal of the heart comes when we purge our minds of the emotions which weigh us down regularly. Therefore, the more we can release our thoughts in a healthy manner, the greater opportunity the Holy Spirit will have to fill our hearts with hope, peace, joy, and contentment.

The key is not to feel guilty for questioning God’s sovereign plan for our lives, but expressing our thoughts in prayer so our minds can accept what God has in store to teach us. For we’ll never understand the big picture of God’s sovereign plan for our lives if we’re constantly worried about all the details, or questioning why we’re enduring difficult trials in the first place.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2–4).

BOTTOM-LINE:

We must never lose sight of the reasons why God allows pain and suffering to enter our lives. Everywhere we go and everything we do has purpose. Therefore, the key to survival is not merely weathering the storm, but understanding the “WHY?” behind the storms we face.

For example, Charles Spurgeon, arguably the greatest preacher who ever lived, endured incredible depression, slander, persecution, and physical ailments which plagued him throughout his ministry.

However, Spurgeon understood that his sufferings produced humility and dependence on God as the source of his strength, which helped him embrace his trials joyfully because he understood they were not void of divine, ministerial purpose.

“I would go to the deeps a hundred times to cheer a downcast spirit. It is good for me to have been afflicted, that I might know how to speak a word in season to one that is weary.”

— Charles Spurgeon

Similarly, we are charged with the task of looking past our present trials and toward the future where divine revelation will be revealed. We simply need to be patient in the process and understand His ways are higher, which means our seasons of fatigue and exhaustion have specific purposes in mind which we cannot comprehend without exchanging our yoke of slavery for Jesus’ instead.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:1–5).

That is an incredible truth we must wrap our minds around to ultimately find rest for our souls. However, that does not mean God will rescue us from our affliction. He may allow our trials to last a lifetime, but again, they are not devoid of purpose but intended to grow our faith so we might minister to others who’ll share our similar fate as well.

In the end, freedom from being tired is all about giving God the glory, honor, and praise He deserves despite how weary our souls may be. For He does not leave nor forsake those who trust in Him but will meet our deepest needs with grace and mercy, even when we fail to comprehend how or why in the moment.

“The road is rugged, and the sun is hot. How can we be but weary? Here is grace for the weariness – grace which lifts us up and invigorates us; grace which keeps us from fainting by the way; grace which supplies us with manna from heaven, and with water from the smitten rock. We receive of this grace, and are revived. Our weariness of heart and limb departs. We need no other refreshment. This is enough. Whatever the way be – rough, gloomy, unpleasant – we press forward, knowing that the same grace that has already carried thousands through will do the same for us.”

— Horatius Bonar