You Are Weary, but God Can Make You Strong

I had seven surgeries in my senior year of high school and another three in my freshman year of college. To say I was “completely depleted” by my health issue was an understatement. I was exhausted — physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I wanted — no, I needed — God to change things, and He wasn’t doing that. It seemed as if things would never get better. This persistent health issue often led me to the hemorrhaging woman in Mark 5:25–34.

This woman had endured a discharge of blood for twelve years. We are told in verse 26 that she “had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.”

Twelve years. Think about where you were twelve years ago and imagine having the worst health crisis of your life for all this time. Imagine your bank account being empty because you kept searching for a cure. And worse yet, for those twelve years, this affliction isolated you.

I was in awe of this woman. Even after twelve years of failed attempts at healing, she never stopped trying. She heard of Jesus and hoped again, believing that simply touching the edge of His clothes could heal her. And she was right. She reached out, and instantly she was healed. This was a miracle.

When Jesus stopped and asked who had touched Him, her heart must have been pounding. All this time, she’d been cast out socially, but now she’d just pushed through a crowd, essentially making everyone she’d bumped into unclean, including Jesus. Yet when Jesus asked, she came forward. She was afraid, surely exhausted, and told Him the truth.

Do you know what Jesus did? He called her “daughter.”

• This woman’s old name would have been “outcast,” but now Jesus called her “daughter.”

The word He used isn’t a nickname for little girls; it’s the same word used throughout the New Testament to indicate a biological daughter. She went from being alone to being in a family. It was as if Jesus was letting her know that she wasn’t alone and that He was there to take care of her.

The apostle Paul had another kind of exhausting affliction. A “thorn” in his flesh. We know from 2 Corinthians 12:7–10  that what made him weary literally brought him to his knees. But while Satan wanted the thorn in Paul’s flesh to take him out completely, God used it to draw him in. Now, Paul kept it real; he admitted that he did beg for God to change things. So I want to say,

whatever is making you weary right now, it’s okay to pray for God to change your circumstances.

However, some circumstances might not change for reasons we might never know.

Paul knew it was okay to be weary, because Christ got to show off His strength when Paul was weak. I can’t tell you how much hope this has brought me, and I trust it brings you hope too. Paul said that once he learned this, he stopped caring about what made him weak, and instead, he even began to appreciate his weakness. He saw that the weaker he got, the more he experienced Christ’s strength.

Have you heard Philippians 4:13, which we often quote as “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength”? I’m sure you have — we love to use it at sporting events and in hard times. It’s the banner we wave to proclaim that we can and will do anything. How we tend to take it out of context aligns with self-help mantras. While not bad, it’s not accurate. The context of this verse is that Paul was trying to reassure the Philippians that even though he had experienced persecution and imprisonment, he would be okay. He said,

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. — Philippians 4:12–13

By “all this,” Paul didn’t mean he could literally do “all things.” He meant he could do all the things God had for him because God would give him strength through any circumstance.

• I want to ensure that you hear this directly: you can’t do everything.

I’ll say it again: you can’t do everything, nor can you be everything. Likely you are weary from all the trying. Instead, if you do what you are called to and are the person God has called you to be while resting on Jesus to be your strength, you will feel more life than you’ve ever known. You will no longer be content with the hamster wheel or the mundane. Instead, you will be content in the place the Father sees best for you.

Friend, I know you feel exhausted or overwhelmed by everything happening or not happening in your life. But God can make you strong in His power and for His purposes, not our own.

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Written for Devotionals Daily by Becky Kiser, author of But God Can.

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Your Turn

Father, I confess that I am exhausted; I am weary from [list things that are causing you to be or feel exhausted]. I don’t want to live weary any longer. Instead, I want to learn how to find my strength in You. Lord, please help me not to try to push through the exhaustion or to put up fake mantras to pretend my circumstances will get better quickly. I believe Philippians 4:13, that I can do all the things that You call me to — the good, the bad, the hard, the easy — because I know You will give me just enough strength and oxygen for what I need. Help me boast in my weaknesses, like Paul, so I can know Your strength and power! ~ Devotionals Daily