Dealing with Overtiredness

Tiredness is something we all experience. It’s a part of how God made us. But what happens if we get overtired? This is something I’ve personally experienced to a great degree in the past year of my life as I’ve contracted Glandular Fever (also called Mono). The overriding feature of this condition for me has been chronic fatigue. In other words, extreme tiredness! Being unable to work, organise or even socialise properly has caused me to seek the answers to many questions about godly ways of dealing with overtiredness.

Jesus understands overtiredness. He for sure experienced it in His human life, especially in the forty days of testing and temptation in the wilderness with Satan. It touched me to read His words to Satan while in that wilderness; ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’. My experience has and is teaching me that our strength and vitality as people comes from our human spirit. We ‘feed’ our human spirit by hearing the Word of God and entering into the joy of the beauty of who He is. For me, in this case, this looked like reading the book of Psalms aloud to myself - not with a mindset of study but with a desire just to let the Word of God penetrate me. This brought refreshing that transcended my physical fatigue. Life was still hard but seemed much more do-able with a core of joy that challenged the wearing.

Someone once taught me that God loves us just as much if we sit on a sofa and do nothing for a year as if we were, say, a leader with a packed schedule full of Kingdom ministry. What truth that is! We can embrace freedom from the Spirit of God even in times when we’ve no human strength. How faithful God is to us. Know today that beyond just physical rest (which is of course still very important) God is more than willing to feed your spirit with life, giving fresh revelation of His beauty and His sufficiency - spiritual fuel for you, a spiritual vessel.

When we haven’t the strength to put things into order we can rely on Him to guard the things we hold precious, the strategy of our lives and every treasure we have stored in Him.

Prayer: Dear Father God, You know me, You know my coming and my going, when I sleep and when I wake. You know those times when I get overwhelmed and overtired. Thank You, God, that You are infinitely bigger than my tiredness and that Your love and faithfulness to me completely transcends my personal ability. Thank You that, no matter how ‘ugly’ things may be for me in overtiredness, the beauty of who You are still shines through the situation. Help me to come to You today and feed off Your Spirit, that I may find rest and new strength in You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.