PROVERBS 30:1 – The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle. The man declares, I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out.

THEME OF THE DAY. IT HAPPENS TO ALL OF US. Before we move into today’s nugget, read today’s scripture again. Don’t we want to come alongside Mr. Agur, the author of Proverbs 30, give him a hug, and say, “Amen. Me too. I am weary. I, too, cry out to God, ‘I am worn out.’” Every Christian knows weariness. And it comes in a few different ways.

First, we know the experience of physical weariness. Jesus knew this upfront and personal. In His encounter with the woman at the well, the Apostle John writes, “Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so, Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour” (John 4:1-6). In our humanness and traced back to the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, sin brought a lot of things into our world and one of them is physical weariness. We get tired and exhausted. Not directly from sin, though if we play with sin, it will have some physical consequence and weariness may be one. Another form of weariness we experience is spiritual. How would one define “spiritual weariness”? Well, there are a couple illustrations which would help us define it.

First, there is the spiritual weariness that teachers and preachers experience. King Solomon writes, “My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh” (Ecclesiastes 12:12). Due to the spiritual nature of preparing lessons and sermons, there is a weariness which comes over the person who is “in the books” studying God’s Word and preparing to teach or preach it. It is as exhausting, perhaps more so in some measure, than physical fatigue.

A second manifestation of spiritual weariness is the exhaustion of carrying the burdens of others. Every Christian who is serving the Body of Christ knows this experience upfront and personal. In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he gives the command “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). Further into the same chapter, he writes, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9). Entering the lives of other Christians to carry their burdens of emotional and spiritual pain will drain the spiritual strength of the serving Christian. It must for to do so requires spiritual engagement with forces of evil; the labor of intercessory prayer, and the putting forth of energy to be a listening friend no matter the time of day or night.

One other illustration of spiritual weariness is the soul longing for God. It is the fatigue that comes from seeking the face of God and He doesn’t immediately answer our prayers or make Himself known to us. David knew this weariness of soul simply wanting to experience the refreshing rest that comes from fellowshipping with God. He cries out, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1). But this is a good weariness for two reasons. One is, no matter how weary, we will not give up seeking God. And, God will not make us wait long. When the waiting on Him has done its work, we will experience the promise found in these words from the prophet Isaiah – “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 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 40:30-31).

Yes, fellow Christian, we get weary in life, but hang in there. It is only for a season. Remember, we are heading home to a place where weariness doesn’t exist, only the eternal rest found in Him who is our eternal rest.

PRAYER: “Father, I praise You that You never grow weary in giving me renewing grace.”

QUOTE: “Weariness of body, mind, and soul is only for this life. Let that truth strengthen you.”