The Tired Straw That Breaks Our Backs

I could lie down like a tired child,
And weep away the life of care
Which I have borne and yet must bear.
~Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and His arm rules for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. He will tend His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows Him His counsel? Whom did He consult, and who made Him understand? Who taught Him the path of justice, and taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, He takes up the coastlands like fine dust. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by Him as less than nothing and emptiness. … Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when He blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like Him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of His might and because He is strong in power, not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God”? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to Him who has no might He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for 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, chapter 40 of his oracle

Oh beloved, it is true.

Sometimes we are completely at the end of our rope. And while this fool of a writer has an amazing life, i find that i have become totally drained of my ability to deal with people’s disability to be kind, or even the slightest bit patient when they don’t get their way.

Surely, this is a sign of my own immaturity; that i feel worn down by the impatience and immaturity of others. And even so, it is a dream that is valid. It really is that just so many people are threatened by free speech, and free dialog that they have throw sand in the eyes and gears of the situation in front of them.

It hurts the most when it is situations into which we have invested so much of ourselves. We Love and share give and lead and submit. Others though, often, are just not ready to be unplugged from their paradigms of fear and memories of the past.

Love is like this though. It is just what it is.

Can we see it?

G_d sees the heaviness we have. He understands it. And He even puts it in the same category as the great movements of nations. Personal pain and weariness is no small thing. It is the crushing of an immortal soul.

And, even so, we find that He can address this problem too. Don’t miss this. Nations will pass away, but a soul will not, and it takes even more strength to move it and bring it healing. However, we can see from the passage that G_d makes extremely light work of the impossible.

So, are you tired? I am for sure. Maybe this is the best news we have had all day. We can realize that our fatigue is real to us, and to G_d. But, just as real as the problem is, the solution is even more – and better. Tonight is your night. Time to wait on Him.

Dear Lord, for all in pain We pray to thee; O come and smite again Thine enemy.
Give to thy servants skill To soothe and bless, And to the tired and ill Give quietness.
And, Lord, to those who know Pain may not cease, Come near, that even so They may have peace.
~Amy Carmichael (1867-1951)