Week 24: Fatigued
Weekly Chapters:
Psalms 1 - 38
Passage of the Week:
Psalms 23
Adjective:
Weary of body
Tired
Thesaurus:
Tired
Bushed
Exhausted
Bedraggled
Weary
Spent
Beat
Wasted
Father God,
Fatigue is my constant companion. You see me, You know me, You understand me. In the study this week, let me learn more about myself to correct my ways. Give me eyes to see what You want me to see and the ears to hear You.
Amen
Authentic vulnerability:
Fatigue is something I know well. I feel it often. Overcommitted, overscheduled, with too much going on. I am running, running, running from one thing to another. No time for myself, no time to rest. I am driven by an unknown master to do more, be more of everything to everyone.
No one is making me be this way. No one is making me live this cluttered life schedule. These are all self-imposed ideas of what I imagine others want from me—my desire to be everything to everyone.
The enemy chases me down, hunts me. This enemy of my schedule who does not let me just be. The enemy of trying to be perfect. The enemy of living my best life is me.
What is your Authentic Truth?
Study:
David’s Psalms were often written during times of anguish. You can see that David feels sorrow or weakness or is troubled. He often laments in the beginning but then turns from grief to praise. You can see him go from an emotion of despair to feelings of gratitude to the Lord.
David feels at the end of his enemy’s plot. He feels persecuted and under attack. While I’m sure what David feels is the physical danger of his enemies, we feel the risk of another variety. We feel the threat of ourselves, of our deadlines and pressures, self-inflicted in our desire to be perfect, a desire to be great for our children, for our children to be great, and let’s face it, more significant than our friends’ kids. What starts as healthy competition quickly enters the danger zone of comparison. Comparison to be better, making us fill our schedules with tutoring, dance classes, baseball lessons, doing more to be better, pushing, pushing, pushing. What does this drive get us? Tired, tired, tired.
God gives us respite. God gives us complete direction. We recite the 23rd Psalm without thinking; we know it from rote memorization. But when we meditate on it, everything becomes so much clearer. God, through David, tells us to rest.
The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. The Lord is all that I need – just like the shepherd for his flock. The shepherd cares for his flock, guides his flock, and knows the needs of his flock. In return, the flock trusts the shepherd for all their needs.
He leads me to rest in green meadows; He leads me beside peaceful streams. The Lord is guiding me to rest and to be at peace. By following God and His design for my life, not my design, I will rest in lush meadows under my feet while peaceful flowing streams quench my every thirst in Him. My Godly desires are met.
He guides me along the right paths bringing honor to His name. Just by following the Lord and his plan for my life, I will go down the path is created for me, one that is smooth and easy. Following God’s will brings honor to his name, not my hurried and rushed lifestyle.
Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. By keeping God in my heart, I am never alone, and I can do all things in His glory for His glory. Even when times are scary, He’s there for me, protecting me. Just like a shepherd and sheep, His rod protects the sheep from danger and can pull the sheep from danger.
You prepare a feast before me in the presence of my enemies. God loves and protects us from the evil that can hurt us.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Anointing one’s head with oil was used in Israel as a healing process or process for sanctification, becoming clean and holy. God wipes away our sins to create a new clean slate from which to proceed, forgetting the mistakes of our past—how freeing is that?
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever. Do you ever look at your children only to become jealous of their ability to just live in perfect peace? All their needs are taken care of by their parents; not worrying about their next meal, where they will rest their head, total trust? How much would you give to not worry about how much rent you can pay this month? Wouldn’t it be freeing not to compare yourself to others? Wouldn’t it be nice just to be and not think about what you need to do today, next week, next month?
Father God,
All my striving does nothing but makes me exhausted. I am no more or less of a person by trying to shove in more and more. My constant need to be everything to everyone is not of You, and it exhausts me. Give me the strength to give up activities that do not gratify or glorify You.
Amen.
Homework:
Re-read the 23rd Psalm in three to four versions of the Bible (use a Bible app to make it simple). In each version, meditate on the words God is speaking through David. Feel God’s message for your life. Picture a day where you can rest and just be. Look at your schedule to try to free up some time to rest and just be.
