Driving when we are very tired can be dangerous; city services often have awareness campaigns on the subject. But fatigue can also be dangerous for our relationship with God!
Tiredness never appears overnight, it builds up slowly and starts to cause damage without anyone realizing it. In itself, fatigue is not dangerous. It’s even a signal that we have to stop and rest. But in our busy and high-performance world, we are not listening. So fatigue invites her friends: anxiety, stress, discouragement, sadness and often illness. When a child is crying for no reason, how many times have we said that they are just tired? How often do we respond to our colleagues who worry about us that we are only tired? As if tiredness was a commonplace, normal state, almost glorified because it proves that we are working hard.
Yet God does not want His children to be exhausted. In the 10 commandments, He had even prescribed to His people a day of rest, the Sabbath. And if someone did not respect that day of rest, the punishment was radical! “You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people” (Exodus 31:14 NKJV). God had the desire, and certainly still does, that His children be different from the world and that they wouldn’t value being occupied beyond the Presence of God.
Because it is one of the first consequences for a Christian: tiredness affects our relationship with God. We still have a little energy to watch a few videos on the Internet or a TV show, but if we lay our eyes on the Bible, we fall asleep right away! We kneel beside our bed and fall asleep on our knees, our head comfortable on our mattress. The next morning we wake up at the last minute that we do not have time to talk to God, otherwise, we will be late for work.
And when we neglect our fellowship with God, we become easy prey to all temptations. It may be the temptation to no longer follow God’s advice or even the temptation to become discouraged. We no longer see God’s desire to have a relationship with us by giving us life guidelines, we see these rules as binding and harsh. Our flesh shrieks louder than our minds, and we begin to find logical reasons to succumb.
Even our service to Christ can become too much of an occupation. Go over and read again the story of Martha and Mary. Martha was busy serving Jesus, while Mary was at his feet and listening to His words. “But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me” (Luke 10:40 NKJV). “Do you not care…” Not only did Martha criticize her sister, but Jesus Himself. How many times do we begin to criticize God because He does not do what we want when we want. All the while we do not have time to do what pleases Him?
There is nothing more important than your relationship with God. If you are so tired that you can’t focus on God when He speaks to you, it is time to rest. Jesus imposed it on his disciples. “And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat” (Mark 6:31 NKJV). And understand that true rest is not the TV, it is in Christ! “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 NKJV). If you are so tired that you can’t let Christ rest your soul and your body, go to sleep! It will not be a waste of time if you become more attentive to the Word of God. Eat well, stay hydrated, play sports: take care of yourself so you do not get too tired when God wants to talk to you daily.