There's Always Tomorrow.
“She believed she could, but she was tired … so she rested, and you know what? The world went on, and it was ok. She knew she could try again tomorrow.”
The day I read this quote on Instagram, I awoke utterly exhausted, and I had slept for eight hours the night before. I thought I don’t know what this girl is talking about, but I’m not ready to try again today, and tomorrows not looking good either. As I lay there contemplating my tiredness, I had visions of pulling the covers over my head and staying in bed all day.
I’ll spare you details, but it’s been a rough season lately, and there’s a whole heap of stuff needing my attention. It could be the hazard of my Myers-Briggs ESTJ personality thriving on an executed to-do list. But I could feel myself depleting and the whole superwoman, high-five me, get it done, over-the-top female goddess illusion went out the window.
What about you? Is anyone tired? Can I get a witness? Raise that hand!
We can find ourselves tired of many things on the journey. The struggle is often heavy to carry, and we all have our stuff—some heavy, heavy stuff.
But, in the contemplation of my hefty load or whether or not I could try again today or even tomorrow, I was reminded of Psalm 46:10 (Passion translation), "Surrender your anxiety! Be silent and stop your striving, and you will see that I am God."
It didn’t happen suddenly, but, after a while, I reset in my attitude, and I started to inch out from under the covers. I realized that it’s not the weight that is heavy; it is the lack of surrender of the load.
“Jesus was reminding me that in all of my tiredness to come to him.”
Jesus was reminding me that in all of my tiredness to come to him. That in handing it all over to him, I will recover my life. Surrendering will show me how to take a real rest and learn the unforced rhythms of grace. God doesn’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on us, but he desires that we learn to live free and light.
So, in this season of lots of stuff, there’s a couple of things God is teaching me.
Physical rest is essential, and sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is take a nap.
Spiritual rest is found only in surrender. It’s not in loud prayers, and a lengthy checklist of bible chapters read.
Grace overflows in abundance. We simply need to throw our hands up and ask for more.
And remember, we’re not alone in the fight because God is faithful to call others to come alongside and fight for us while we rest. It’s vital to permit others to carry the burden for you.
One of my favorites in this season is Psalm 3, particularly verse 5, “I lie down and sleep: I wake again because the Lord sustains me.”
I believe you can, my friend, even though you’re tired. So rest awhile as the world keeps moving on—it’s ok, there’s always tomorrow.