When You Wake Up Already Tired

Maybe you woke up already tired, and you can feel how much today is going to ask of you. You don't have the strength for all of it. This morning we'll hear what God says to people who are worn out. Let's bring this to God together.

In Isaiah chapter forty, verses twenty-nine through thirty-one, the prophet says this about God.

He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. But those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:29-31

Isaiah spoke these words to a people who were worn down and, most likely, living in the shadow of exile. They had reached a hard conclusion about God. Just before our verses, Isaiah says it back to them.

Why do you say, O Jacob, and why do you assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my claim is ignored by my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out.

Isaiah 40:27-28

They were tired, and worse, they felt overlooked, as if God had lost track of them. Many of us know that feeling. Maybe you're sitting on the edge of the bed with your feet on the floor, and standing up feels like a decision. The night was short, or the last few months were long, and you wonder whether anyone sees what it costs you to keep going.

God answers them by telling them who He is. He made the ends of the earth, and He never runs low. And He gives that strength to the faint. It goes to the people who have nothing left.

Waiting on the Lord isn't a technique for getting your energy back. It means hoping in Him and putting your weight on His strength, because yours has run out. Isaiah doesn't say how quickly it comes. He says it will be renewed.

Being tired isn't a faith failure, either. Even the young grow tired, Isaiah says. And Psalm one twenty-seven speaks to people who work themselves ragged to keep life afloat.

In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat—for He gives sleep to His beloved.

Psalm 127:2

Sleep is something God gives. If you didn't get much last night, bring that to Him too. Nothing in Isaiah promises the tiredness will lift by lunchtime. And if it's been weeks or months, it's wise to tell a doctor or someone you trust, as well as God.

Paul knew what it was to run out. He wrote to the church in Corinth about a thorn in his flesh. Three times he asked the Lord to take it away, and it stayed. This is the answer he was given.

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

The thorn stayed, and Paul says it was there that Christ's power rested on him. John tells us Jesus once sat down at a well, worn out from the road. So you come to the Father through a Savior who knows what it is to be tired. You don't have to get your strength up before you pray. His welcome doesn't depend on how well you do it this morning.

Let's pray. You can pray these words with me, out loud or in your heart.

Father, I'm here, and I'm tired. I come to You through Jesus, who knows what weary feels like. He died for my sins and rose again, and because of Him I'm welcome here. I don't have much to bring this morning, so I'm asking Your Spirit to help me pray.

Your word says, “The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out.” You've never started a day behind, or run out halfway through it. Your understanding has no bottom, so You know my tiredness better than I do. Thank You that You never wear out, and that You're holding this day.

I don't have the strength for today, Father. I've been running on what I had left, and it's gone. Some mornings I've half thought You'd lost track of me, the way Israel did. My way feels hidden, and my load feels too small for anyone else to notice. Help me trust that You see me, even on the mornings I feel forgotten. And forgive me for pushing through on my own and calling it strength. You made me with limits, and You know them. I'm not going to pretend with You.

So I'm asking for what You promise to give. “He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak.” I'm faint this morning. Give me what I need for the first hour, and then for the next one. Show me what in today is really mine to do, and what can wait or be handed to someone else. Let me say no where I need to. And tonight, give me sleep.

Teach me to wait on You. “Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.” I don't know how to do that well. I think it means hoping in You, and leaning on You when I've got nothing left to lean with. Let that be what I do the moment I feel myself running dry.

Paul asked three times, and his thorn stayed. The answer he got was this. “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” I'm weak this morning. Let Your power rest on me right here, in the middle of it. If the tiredness stays all day, I'm still Yours, and Your grace is still enough.

If this goes deeper than a short night, lead me to the right help. A doctor, a friend, someone who'll carry part of it with me. Let me ask for it.

Whatever my body does today, I'll hold on to this. “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” You're what I have that doesn't run out. When I'm empty this afternoon, remind me of that.

I pray for others who are tired this morning. Someone driving home from a night shift with their eyes burning. Someone caring for a mother or a husband who needs a little more every month. Someone on their feet all day with nobody to say thank you. Give them power, Father, and send them help they didn't have to ask for. And for everyone praying along with me right now, meet each of us where we're running low.

Now I'm getting up. I'll take the first thing in front of me and leave the rest for later. Walk with me through it. Make me patient with the people near me when I've got little left. And tonight, let me lay this down and sleep, because You give sleep to Your beloved.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Take a moment of quiet now, and bring Him whatever's in front of you today.

Hear this blessing from Psalm twenty-nine.

The Lord gives His people strength; the Lord blesses His people with peace.

Psalm 29:11