Do It Tired
I love the story of the woman at the well, there are so many beautiful parts in it and when I come across it during my Bible reading I genuinely get excited. The compassion that Jesus has for this woman to go out of the established way to intervene in her isolated life, the hurt that she obviously carries on her sleeve, it's all so raw, so beautiful, so redemptive! Jesus completely transformed her life! I cannot wait to have a conversation with her someday and find out what happened after He left. Where did she go? What did she do? How many other amazing ways did God use her life?
There are so many wonderful things that I can point out in her story. I could write blog post after blog post of the things that God has shown me in it. But for today, I just want to point out one thing. Jesus showed up tired.
“...and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime.”
- John 4:6b NLT
Seems menial right? Well today, to my overwhelmed mind and overtired body that is one of the most important parts of the story.
Jesus made time for her, a hurting woman—a woman who had been discarded over and over again. He went out of His way to show up, to not reject her, to truly see the woman that tried to stay invisible. And He did it all tired—weary from His journey.
I don’t know about you but I know I have had times when I saw someone in a store that I knew was going to take more time than I was willing to give. Instead of walking boldly into the situation with love I sidestepped into an aisle that I had no business being in and pretended to look at something that I didn’t care to see just so I didn’t have to be bothered. I’ve been too tired, too busy, too whatever to take the time that people needed me to take.
Just writing that makes me feel skeevy, but it should! That’s a skeevy thing to do. If Jesus did it tired then so should we.
Now, I need to take a second to say that rest is essential and important and such. This isn’t me saying that you should run yourself ragged for the sake of the Kingdom, Jesus rested and we serve a God that knows the importance of rest. He even designed a whole day for it!
What I am saying is this: your feelings are not more important than someone else’s needs. Our obedience is expected whether we feel like it or not, whether we are tired or rested, whether we’ve had a good day or a bad one. I never want to stop seeing people through eyes of love because I’m too tired to care.
“But those who wait on 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 40:31 NKJV
God promises to renew our strength. We see that verse all over coffee cups and t-shirts but I think we miss the point of it. In order for something to need renewed it must first be depleted.
I’m not a fan of depleted strength! Personally, I like to quit well before I reach the depleted mark. But if we want His strength for the situation then we must come to the end of what we bring to the table. It’s only at the end of ourselves that we start relying on Him.
So today, even though I am overwhelmed and overtired, I choose to still follow wherever He leads, to lay aside my own desires, and choose to surrender myself to His will. Today I choose to do it tired.
Written by Amanda Strauser