God Strengthens The Weary
He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. -- Isaiah 40:29
Some seasons of life are just hard. And some days are worse than others. No one truly knows the life path of someone else but we are so quick to judge, to criticize, to look down on their seeming inability to get it all together.
Most of us don’t bare our souls to just anyone. That leaves us wide open to criticism. By people who really don’t have the right to criticize us at all. Because really what we see and what really is are rarely the same thing.
A friend recently spoke of getting upset and frustrated with another driver who was driving way too slow. Then she got some devastating news and ended up driving slower than she normally would have. In hindsight, she wonders if she wasn’t too critical of a stranger. Maybe that driver had a reason, just as she had.
Or those who don’t think we have a “proper” relationship with parents or other relatives. Believe me, if you aren’t in the relationship, you don’t know the dynamics. Do some people treat family members badly with no reason? Absolutely. But usually if there is tension or nasty comments, there’s a reason for it -- and it might not be what you think.
I have a dear friend who, along with her sisters, cares for her mother. Except she can do nothing right. Yeah. You guessed it. She isn’t the favorite. It’s frustrating and I’m sure if someone heard her tell her mother to call her youngest daughter if she wasn’t happy, would be appalled. How dare she treat her mother with such disrespect? Well, maybe because her mother treats her with disrespect and a person can only hurt so much before lashing out.
Because it’s hard to keep going forward, trying to do good, trying to pretend everything is okay when really it isn’t. But people don’t want to hear or see that sad side. They want to see only good -- and criticize you if you show anything else.
“I just get so tired,” my friend says. “I don’t know how I can face another day like this one,” another says. I know. I know. I am just so tired of being tired. Yet when you care for others, when you live a life of ups and downs (and aren’t all our lives that way?), when you try to pretend all is well when it isn’t, then it just drains you.
God understands. He gets it. He really does. And He offers strength to the weary. Understanding. A place to turn when life is just too much and you can’t imagine facing another day filled with criticism, and judgment, and duties that never seem to end. Turn to Him and find rest for your weary soul.
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