I’d worked at it for the better part of thirty minutes. My arms shook, and sweat soaked me under the blaze of the Florida sun. I was weary.
The job? Taming my overgrown wax myrtle hedge. I used an electric hedge trimmer and had a long extension cord. But they were like David’s pebbles in the face of my personal Goliath. Still, my five-foot-five-inch body leaned and stretched atop a five-foot ladder, whacking away at the seven-foot hedge. I would conquer this chore.
After what felt more like hours, I shaped the scruffy shrub back into tidy, rounded lines and climbed down. Arms still vibrating from the trimmer’s power, I stared at the bush and sucked in a deep, satisfied breath. Then I looked around me. Leavings of my efforts littered the ground. I wiped my forehead and sighed—still more work.
How often do we stop in the middle of our journey and look at our lives, relationship with God and others, and think, Still more work? Tired, if not exhausted, by our efforts, we can’t help but wonder if all the labor is worth it. And the hard truth is, sometimes it isn’t.
But even if we’re doing God’s work, like serving in the church’s daycare or leading a Bible study, we can get caught up in the do more and be more of our culture. We forget striving and straining aren’t a part of God’s calling for our lives. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.
The next time you feel weary, worn out, or even burned out, take a moment to chat with God. Ask Him to remind you of the work He called you to do, not what you chose. See if the two align. His answer might surprise you.
What are some ways you can avoid weariness?
(photo courtesy of pixabay.com.)
(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)
Felicia achieved master's degrees in healthcare administration and Speech-Language Pathology but has written since childhood and dreamed of authoring books that teach and inspire others. An award-winning fiction and non-fiction freelance writer, she is the past president of the Destin chapter of Word Weavers International and a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association. Her radio devotional, Build Faith for the Journey, airs Saturdays on Christian Mix 106. As a child, Felicia lived in Kansas, Texas, and Louisiana before her family settled on a horse and cattle farm in Kentucky. For the past ten years, though, she soaked up the Florida sun. But then God moved her once again. This time out of the South and into the mountains of Colorado. When she’s not glued to her laptop, Felicia enjoys hiking, meandering with her twelve-year-old Frenchie, and looking forward to the next story.