Tired.
There are moments when I am just so very tired. As a pastor, I believe it is fairly common for those moments to come on Mondays. It is a common day for taking a day off. The previous week was a long one. The Big Show, known more often as Sunday services, is over.
And if the prayers weren't immediately answered...
And if the challenge wasn't instantly accepted...
And if the next week looms very large...
It can leave a pastor in a post-Sunday haze of doubt and fatigue. This is not unique to pastors alone. I am sure all people get like this, within the context of their own schedules. A break comes in the work schedule only to give enough time for one to realize that it will soon have to be done all over again.
Perhaps that is why I read these verses as a beautiful promise.
The righteous perish,
and no one ponders it in his heart;
devout men are taken away,
and no one understands
that the righteous are taken away
to be spared from evil.
Those who walk uprightly
enter into peace;
they find rest as they lie in death. ~Isaiah 57:1-2
Don't misinterpret me. I don't have a death wish. Perhaps I'd like a few more 3-day weekends. But as Isaiah refers to the righteous, I consider again what it takes to fulfill that description. The righteous are those who seek after God with all their heart. They look for God's heart and His will in all things.
And rather than look at death as a loss for them, we should look at as the goal attained. After all, if we remember that this world is not our home...that we were created for another world...that we are just beginning a forever-relationship with God...
Then we will understand that being tired is part of what we should expect in this world. We will comprehend that bad things will continue. Fatigue and depression (sometimes) will come, but someday...peace and rest will be ours.
Yeah, it's Monday again. But I encourage you to look to God and consider this day, and your life, as His. Righteous living leads to peace and rest.
How do you approach Mondays?
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