TIRED

Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Mathew 11:28

Tired. One five-letter word. Sounds like a sigh when you actually say it. Tiiirrreeddd.

T-I-R-E-D. Even worse when you spell it. It makes me feel more so when I read it. Tired.

There's the tired that gets on my nerves; tired of that noise, tired of this election season. There's the tired that wears on my body; tired from no sleep, tired from fighting a cold.

There's the tired of the mundane, tired of this sad-looking carpet, and the tired of watching nothing on TV.

But this tired today was a tired of warring, wrangling, and fighting. This tired is the tired that makes people give up, give in and give out. This kind of tired is the one that robs your heart, that stops believing promises, that puts potential miracles back into a box in the closet, and covers hope in mold down in the basement. This is when you are “weak and tired.” The "God, you will have to do this" tired. The "I need to hear your voice" tired.

Perhaps this tired is why God included the word rest in his Word. Maybe, since He felt it, knew it, and had to pray Himself through it, He knew how heavy and dragging and defeating this particular tired could be.

I don't remember reading anywhere in His word, or in any other book about Him for that matter, that ever told me…." keep on going, even when you are tired and worn out and on your last nerve or your last dollar. I don't recall His encouraging us beyond tired, but I sure do read many scriptures that tell us to rest. I see many variables of the word rest in my bible; rest, rested, resteth, resting, resting place, restore, restored, restorer.

In fact, apparently, this resting stuff was so important; it was included on God's initial to-do list:

1. Make Heavens

2. Make Earth

3. Make Vegetation

4. Make Animals

5. Make Man

6. Make Woman

7. Rest

So, is there a reason why we think we need to ponder, pundit, worry, pace, pound, rationalize, attack, and give our emotional energy to things we cannot change? Yup. We like being in control, we love fixing it, and we like knowing we did so.

Doesn't it drive us crazy when we can't fix it for whatever reason? One of the most valuable lessons I have learned is so simple. The answer to the word tired is the word rest. One takes, the other gives.

Ex 33:14 I will give thee rest KJ

De 12:10 He gives you rest NKJ

1K 5:4 The Lord my God has given me rest NKJ

Ps 16:9 My flesh shall also rest KJ

Mt 11:28 Come unto me all you who are heaven laden, and I will give you rest NKJ

Mt. 11:29 Ye shall find rest unto your souls KJ

Rest unto your souls. Did you know He put that in there for us? He knew there would be times when we would be so tied up in knots over something passing in our lives that we would need to know that in Him, not only is it ok, but it is prescribed for us to rest.

So, are you T-I-R-E-D in this season? Need to combat the uprising of humanness going on inside? As I pour this cup of decaf coffee and prepare to sit with my music on low, I suggest you also find a way to surrender, exhale, and rest. He'll put your little world's voluminous problems on His to-do list and let you know when He needs your help. Until then, well, you know…