Exhausted. I guess that would be the word I would use to describe many of us right now. Between running the kids back and forth, dealing with the stress of finances, and meeting expectations at our workplace, schools, churches, and homes … life can seem like one big uphill battle. Sure, we should have a different perspective. Of course, we should be in continual thanks for the blessings of families, jobs, etc. But sometimes instead of blessing, all we can see is …
frustration.
Frustration that things are not easier… frustration that we are too worn out to enjoy the blessings of life around us.
I think Fannie Lou Hamer (civil rights activist) said it best when she said:
But yet we know, people are depending on us. Although we may be tired and worn …
we have a responsibility to stay in the fight, to not check out … to continue moving upward … maintaining hope that there will be a promising outcome.
The moments when we are skimming the edge of burnout are the times when we must choose to let our values overtake our feelings. But how can this be achieved?
Through surrender.
No matter how intelligent, how energetic, how industrious, or how loving we are, we all come to that place where we are staring the end of our wits in the face. There are moments when we all find that our best intentions and ingenuities simply fall short. And so …
we must surrender.
We must surrender the weight of our struggle, the desire to maintain control, the need to “do life on our own.”
Surrender is an exercise in falling flat on our face and admitting “God I can’t do this alone.”
This happened to Moses in Numbers 11, this happened to Elijah in 1 Kings 19, and this happens to you and me.
We have to fall, to fail, to admit we don’t always have what it takes … to be everything to everyone … to be superman or
superwoman. In fact, as I once was told, you have to take that cape off and hang it up because …
There is only One Superman and his name is not Clark Kent … He is Jesus Christ.
When we come to this realization, we can then begin to stop reading from the script of the exhausted and start proclaiming the confession of the renewed Christian. There is one confession, a prayer, that has given me strength and perspective in times of weariness. It reminds me that the battles of daily living are not to be fought alone but rather through the strength of God within.
The confessional prayer is the prayer of Saint Patrick and it goes:
“I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation
Of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the Threeness,
Through the confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth with
His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion
With His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection
With His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for
The Judgment Day ….
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of
Reward.
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks
Of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks
Of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation
of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the Threeness,
Through the Confession of the Oneness,
Of the Creator of creation.”
This week, you will face battles … battles that test your will, your determination, and the limits of your abilities. When they arive, fall at the foot of the cross. It is only in this falling, this surrender that we can move beyond the realm of the exhausted and arise through the strength of the Almighty God. May you find His strength and renewal constantly.
Live Courageously and Compassionately
Grace and Peace in Christ,
Matthew S. Miller