Reenergized After the Weariness

I eagerly pour the steamy coffee into my mug hoping for the fresh energy it promises. Overcast, winter afternoons seem to creep up in heavy eye lids and bone-weariness. In some ways it is a reflection of what is going on within. The weight of the last year draped like a wet, wool blanket on my shoulders. We have replaced the draining, busy routines with mindlessness that drains, leaving us just as empty and twice as heavy.

Where can I go to be energized these days? Where can I find a refilling and refreshing that feels like uncontainable joy rather than the constant dragging from one responsibility to the next?

Since there is nothing new under the sun and the Lord has given us His Word to be encouraged, I turn there for the tending I know my soul needs as I sip from the hot mug in my hands.

Ah, yes. Peter must’ve felt he needed a fresh energizing. He and his buddies had just lost their dearest friend. All that they thought was going to come of this ministry had taken a turn they never saw coming. (Hmm, 2020 seemed to take a turn none of us saw coming either). On top of that the guilt of denying his precious Jesus was surely a weight too heavy to bear if he thought about it long enough.

When the going get tough, the fishermen go fishing, right? “I’m going fishing” (John 21:3) was Peter’s declaration response to his weariness.

“We’ll go with you,” was the response of a tight pack of men who had been through the wringer together. Camaraderie is something, isn’t it?

The men get into the boat, the fishermen, the tax collector, the business owners all spend the time together, fishing. This time for fish once again. Surely that alone lacked energy for them and catching nothing was the last straw on their fatigued psyches.

How did they, and how can we, begin to tend our souls in such a way that we are freshly energized?

1. Tell Jesus. For that group, on that morning, Jesus showed up on the beach and asked them what they had accomplished during the night. He, of course, knew but Often the Lord seeks us out to tell Him so we might better see and know what’s going on inside of us.
2. Trust Jesus. The response from Jesus was for the men to put down in the net on the other side of the boat. Surely this logic made no sense to men who had fished all night in that same area with no catch. But they trusted His Word and obeyed.
3. Time with Jesus. The overfilled boat with flapping fish surely was a surge of energy for those weary-hearted men. Peter immediately knew it was his Lord and he plunged into the sea to waste no time getting to Him. Jesus made them breakfast right there, inviting them to come and be nourished with Him on the shore.

After a season of soul fatigue that leaves us longing for a fresh energizing, the Lord is available, calling us to Himself. He invites us to tell Him, lay it all at His feet. Trust Him enough to obey His leading whether we understand or not. And take the time we need to be energized by His side for the next season ahead.