There are so many verses in the Bible I love, but there is one verse lately that has, well, really been bothering me. It happens to be one of my pastor’s favorites, and he means it as encouragement every time he says it. It’s Galatians 6:9, and the verse starts, “And let us not be weary in well doing.” Don’t be weary. Really? That’s like telling someone on a Texas tarmac in June not to be hot. Or telling someone on a snowbank in Alaska not to be cold. If you’re weary, you’re weary. How do you STOP? But then it occurred to me that in the same way an ice-cold lemonade helps those who are hot, and piping hot chocolate helps those who are cold, those who are weary just need times of refreshing.
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
Galatians 6:9
We’re in Weary Days
It’s no secret we are living in the last days. John called it the “last hour” in 1 John 2:18, and here we are nearly two thousand years later. Satan knows his time is short and is already trying to wear out the saints. People are tired. They are tired of circumstances, tired of spiritual attacks, and tired of the mental battle to keep our thoughts and actions pure in trying times. It can even start to feel like no matter what we do or don’t do, things just don’t seem to get any better. We just keep fighting and fighting, and the end is nowhere in sight.
As I pondered the whole problem, I had a new thought. The same Bible that told us not to be weary would surely be the best place to find advice about what to do when we find ourselves in that very position. Weary means worn out, and the opposite of that is fresh. What does the Bible have to say about times of refreshing? As I started to look at the verses, I noticed a pattern. There are three basic solutions the Bible has for weariness: rest, other believers, and God.
1. Get Some Rest
- Exodus 31:17 “It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.”
- Exodus 23:12 “Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.”
Even the Lord of all Creation took rest and refreshing. From the beginning, He set a pattern for His people to follow. But how many of us, if we’re honest, really take time to rest these days? Between work, church, ministry, family obligations, and chores – all good things – if we aren’t careful, we can let our “to-do” lists do us in. It’s like continuing to use our cell phones even when we see the low battery sign.
We must be conscious and consistent about taking time to rest. Put your ox away – and your smartphone too. If you can’t start with a whole day, try just a few hours to do something that you know will recharge you. Remember “HALT.” When we are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, these are some of the times we are most vulnerable to attack. Just like a dead cell phone is no good to anyone, wearing yourself down to nothing is also not good for your “equipment.” We must take time for mental and physical rest.
2. Get Together with Other Believers
Dealing with the world can be tiring. After all, we always want to make sure to be salt and light and give a reason for the hope that is in us. We must guard against allowing our flesh to be carried away, and we must be watchful for times we can give our testimony and speak to people about salvation. In short, when we are around unbelievers, we have to be on our game. That takes energy.
Believers, on the other hand, understand the things of God that make us happy and encouraged. We share priorities, and we can let our guards down and lean on each other for support. Christens can speak words of life to us when prompted by the Holy Spirit and share testimonies that remind us that God is still on His throne. A phone call or a visit with sisters and brothers in Christ can take away our weariness and get us ready to face another day.
The New Testament is full of verses about believers refreshing other believers.
- Acts 27:3 “And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself.”
- Romans 15:32 “That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God and may with you be refreshed.”
- 1 Corinthians 16:18 “For they have refreshed my spirit and yours: therefore, acknowledge ye them that are such.”
- 2 Corinthians 7:13 “Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus because his spirit was refreshed by you all.”
- 2 Timothy 1:16 “The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain.”
- Philemon 1:20 “Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels in the Lord.”
And here’s one more tip from Proverbs. If we want to be watered ourselves, we need to water other people. We just can’t help but be refreshed when we are refreshing others.
Proverbs 11:25 “The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.”
3. Ask God for Refreshing
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
Of course, the most important thing we can do when we are weary is to get into God’s presence. We can pray and ask God to refresh us. So often, it isn’t just one or two things in our lives that wear on us. It is the constant barrage of troubles and mental and spiritual battles that just don’t seem to end. If we are looking for peace in a chaotic world, we need to look no further than the Prince of Peace Himself.
After all, He has done it before.
- Jeremiah 31:25 “For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”
- Psalm 68:9 “Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance when it was weary.”
He can do it again.
- Psalm 23:2-3 “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
- Isaiah 40:29-31 “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
- Isaiah 41:10 “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
- Isaiah 48:11 “And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”
- Romans 15:13 “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”
- Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
The Presence of the Lord Brings refreshing.
- Acts 3:19 “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”
- Isaiah 28:12 “To whom he said, ‘This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.”
- Psalm 16:11 “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
- Philippians 4:6-7 “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Watch for Weariness
God knows and understands that at times we will feel tired. After all, there might be seasons when we are doing what God called us to do for a very long time with zero evidence that our labor is having any effect at all. All the while, the world tells us that doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity, and the enemy just pounds us from every side.
For some, there will be a temptation to take the nearest exit off the narrow road. For others who would never dream of stepping off the path, it may just look like sitting down on our suitcases and pulling out a magazine. After all, when there doesn’t seem to be a reward in the supernatural, we can always find something in the natural to make us feel better for a minute. But the Bible tells us not to do that (and that doesn’t last anyway). Instead, we should seek God’s solutions to be refreshed of the Lord.
Be Refreshed in the Lord
The Bible tells us not to be weary in well doing. We must keep praying, seeking, planting, and watering until the day Jesus calls us home. That means that when we start to get that weary feeling, we can’t allow ourselves to get discouraged and disheartened or take matters into our own hands. We can’t give up fighting the good fight of faith. Instead, we can make sure we get the mental and physical rest we need, seek out fellowship with other believers, and prioritize time in the presence of God. In the end, we will reap if we faint not, and Heaven will be worth every minute.
Like articles about 3’s? Try The 3 Levels of Sampson and Submission to God. Or, try The 3 Things to Remember When Iniquity Abounds. Please subscribe in the upper right corner (or at the bottom on the phone). Also, check out my YouTube Channel. There, I read my blogs out loud and have a playlist of hymns from my church.
