Overcoming the Weariness

When you're sick, your body tries to shut down so it can recover. When you're coughing and blowing and busy being sick, you certainly don't get the rest you need and you end up being weary to the bone. That's just how being sick works.

That weariness of illness is one that goes straight to the bone. After two weeks of fighting bronchitis, asthma and fibromyalgia all at once, I can say that I have truly experienced weariness.

It's hard to fight back when you're weary, and the enemy knows that. During my illness, I heard so many voices telling me all kinds of things while I was stuck in bed trying to recover.

You're not that sick, are you?
This is your vacation time! You should be up enjoying it.
It's not that bad.
Get out of bed and accomplish something.
How lazy you've been.
Everybody gets sick. Why shouldn't you?
Aren't you stronger than this?

All the while, I thought about Ahithophel and Absalom pursuing David.

Moreover, Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night: And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only. 2 Samuel 17:1-2

The enemy was just waiting for David to be exhausted and unable to fight back. That's when they would strike - when he was weary.

This is still Satan's battle plan today. How often do we hear ugly words in our heads when we're at our lowest? How often, late at night, to you hear:

Wow. You really didn't accomplish much today, did you?
Was all that work really worth it?
Do you really think anyone noticed what you did today?
You could have done more, but you didn't.
A stronger Christian woman wouldn't feel like you do right now.

Just like with the men chasing David, the devil has an easier time manipulating us when we're weary. He can't do as much damage when we're all rested up and ready for the fight. So he bides his time and waits until we're utterly exhausted.

So what's a victorious Christian woman to do?

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. Psalm 27:13-14

God has promised to be an unending supply of strength and endurance. If we push ourselves to the breaking point, we will reach that point of exhaustion and be a target for the devil's attacks. But if we're waiting on the Lord and drawing out goodness and courage and strength from Him that we possibly can, those voices don't do as much damage.

You may not be weary from sickness today. You may be weary from expectations, your to-do list and the circumstances of the day. But the Lord promises to be there every step of the way, replenishing us as we walk with Him.

Wait on the Lord. Rest in His rejuvenating strength. Then go back out to fight the good fight.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holland Creme - That Amazing White Stuff In Donuts

Image
I remember going to the grocery store every Saturday morning when I was growing up, and my favorite place in the entire store was the donut case. All the glazed, powdered and filled baked goods drew me like a magnet. My favorites, far and away, were the ones filled with that beautiful white, fluffy creme. At the time I didn't know it was called Holland Creme - I just knew it was the most amazing concoction ever. Ever. Here is my version of this sweet treat. You can make your own fried donuts and fill them, or like I did here, you can cut a crevice into store-bought donuts with a knife and fill them with creme in a piping bag. Either way, you're going to love it. Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup shortening 1 cup butter 1 Tbsp vanilla 7 cups powdered sugar 1. Make a simple syrup by combining sugar and water in a sauce pan over medium heat until boiling, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool complet
Read more

Recovering An Old Card Table And Making It Usable Again

Image
This card table recover project has been on my to-do list for months. I've been using it as my workspace in the craft room for quite some time, and it sees a lot of abuse. Here it is now, with a neutral cover on it so I can take better pictures for my tutorials. There were dents and dings in the old blue covering from metal tools. And yes, I've used my embossing heat tool on it several times, leaving pretty good scars. The padding underneath the blue cover also made it difficult to keep paper crafts flat when adhering them together, so it was time for something new. That's where a simple vinyl tablecloth comes in handy. The process to recover the table is pretty simple, but I learned a couple of lessons the hard way. I share them with you now. First, don't do this on any surface but a carpet. I tried it on the deck int he sunshine to get better pictures, but all it did was tear up the cover. Second, get a second pair of hands to help you kee
Read more

Crafts For Teen Girls To Make

Image
In our teen girls Bible study, we're studying our way through the Proverbs 31 woman and it's been such a blessing to me, as I hope it's been to them. Every month we spend an afternoon or an evening together studying Scripture, making something amazing in the kitchen and creating something that corresponds to the verse we're in. Choosing the crafts each time can be a challenge for several reasons. It needs to be something they can completely finish (or do most of) because once they leave they're probably not going to work on it themselves - that's just the nature of teenagers. Remember? It also needs to be a project that keeps they're attention, is age-appropriate and is cool enough that they'll want to keep it or give it to someone special. But hey, no pressure on the Bible study leader, right? Here are just a few of the projects we've done together in the year we've been meeting. * This month's craft will be the adorable cross stit
Read more