Fatigue - We're all over it!

5 Thoughts to Help Fight through Fatigue

It wasn’t to long ago that the catch word of the day was “unprecedented”. The common discussion centered around living in “unprecedented times” as we entered a new COVID guided world. Every time someone spoke or wrote, this was the catch word of the time.

Now, the word that I keep hearing most is “fatigue”. We certainly have COVID fatigue, mask fatigue, political fatigue and then I heard a reporter mention “hurricane fatigue” a few weeks ago.

I get it. It’s tiring.

I know this has been challenging for everyone, especially for those who struggle with anxiety and depression. As a result, I wanted to offer a few thoughts that I hope helps to keep things in perspective and offer a little encouragement.

We live in a broken world.

We have faced diseases and hurricanes for a very, very long time. From the fall of man in Genesis 3 to today, we live in a broken world. This is not new and won’t last forever!

God is not surprised by any of these events (COVID or presidential elections).

One of my favorite attributes of God is His Omniscience. Theologian Wayne Grudem defines God's Omniscience this way - "God fully knows himself and all things actual and possible in one simple and eternal act."

He has known it for all time and is not surprised by the events of this year.

A.W. Tozer wrote in The Pursuit of God, “He is omniscient, which means that He knows in one free and effortless act all matter, all spirit, all relationships, all events.”

Without effort God Is fully aware of all events and he cares – most fully demonstrated in the cross.

There is hope

I’ve heard this said a few times over the past week and I think it’s a good analogy: You may be tired toward the end of a marathon or race but when you see the finish line, there’s a since of renewal that can help push you through.

While certainly applicable to a vaccine for COVID 19, I think there is a deeper point to this analogy. For those of us who have trusted in and believe in the saving work of Christ, we know that He will return one day and make everything right.

Again, A.W. Tozer once commented: “So, for many there is no emotional yearning for the return of Jesus. The best hope they know is a kind of intellectual, theological hope. But an intellectual knowledge of what the New Testament teaches about the return of Christ is surely a poor substitute for a love-inflamed desire to look on His face!…

The crux of the whole matter is this: our wonderful, created world will be restored to its rightful Owner. I for one look forward to that day. I want to live here when Jesus Christ owns and rules the world. Until that hour, there will be conflict, distress and war among the nations. We will hear of suffering and terror and fear and failure. But the God who has promised a better world is the God who cannot lie. He will shake loose Satan’s hold on this world and its society and systems. Our heavenly Father will put this world into the hands that were once nailed to a cross for our race of proud and alienated sinners.

It is a fact. Jesus Christ is returning to earth.…

I bow my head and continue to pray with the humble writer of the Revelation: “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!”

We have hope.

Resilience is a wonderful attribute.

When I think about our friends in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast who have endured hurricane after hurricane, I think about resilience. While exhausted, they pick up the pieces and fight through to put things back together again – even when they know it may happen again.

Resilience means you bounce back quickly from a difficult time. Resilience, as difficult as it may be shapes and strengthens our character. I would rather be known for resilience.

Keep an eternal perspective.

Eight months ago, on March 13th, the United States declared a National Emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Don’t lose sight. Eight months in the grand scheme of eternity is less than a speck on a speck of sand. We will get through this time (and it’s coming sooner than later).

One of my favorite passages in scripture points to Paul’s perspective on eternity:

“16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self[d] is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4).

Let’s not give in to fatigue. Let us instead reflect on 2020 and our current situation as one that is “light” and “momentary” and focus on what truly matters.