We’re all busy; we all seem to be tired. Many, if I not most of us, would describe ourselves as exhausted. We’re exhausted trying to keep up with the demand’s society puts on us, and by the constant endeavor to have more – whatever “more” actually is. It’s our own fault. In most cases, the fact we are exhausted is due to the choices we’ve made and for the things we’ve allowed into our lives. Often, we are busy simply being busy. I’ve known people who seemed to feel the more crammed their calendar was, the more important they were.
They got busy scheduling meetings even when it meant double and triple-booking themselves. It’s a bit of insanity. There is, however, a healthy way to become exhausted. When we spend our days in the relentless pursuit of Jesus, we will undoubtedly become exhausted, but it will be the sweetest sense of tired you will ever know.
Dr. Micha Jazz said, “Exhaustion is the consequence of the active pursuit of God.” If you’ve devoted your life to Christ and you aren’t exhausted, it may mean you aren’t pursuing Him with all you’ve got. It’s possible a lack of exhaustion in following Christ is indicative of an area of our lives we’ve yet to surrender to Him. It occurs to me if we are so willing to let our earthly pursuits exhaust us, we should be even more diligent in exhausting ourselves in the pursuit of our Savior. I like Dr. Jazz’s comment. I want to be so dogged in my pursuit of Jesus that I utterly exhaust myself. I don’t want to ever be discouraged by the fact I’m exhausted. Every disciple of Christ should wear their exhaustion as a badge of honor, but only if they are being exhausted by the proper pursuits.
The “busy” card has been played to death in our day. The most common response I get when I ask someone how they are doing is, “Busy, very busy.” When it comes to living for Jesus, I believe it should be rare to be busy but common to be exhausted. If we’re always busy, we will miss the things Jesus wants to teach us. I propose we should instead be the opposite of busy. We should get alone with only God and His Word and battle in prayer until we are utterly exhausted.
And so, we return to a common theme: on what are you spending your time? Are you exhausted trying to keep pace with your friends and neighbors, climbing the corporate ladder, or crafting the perfect social profile? Jesus didn’t call us to any of those things. He called us to love Him and to serve others (Mark 12:29-31). We will never encounter Him as He is unless and until we exhaust ourselves pursuing Him. It won’t be easy. You will face opposition from co-workers, friends, family, and the devil himself. There will be obstacles all along the way, each one designed to discourage and knock you off course. You will get tired. You will become exhausted. But take heart and know your exhaustion is merely a consequence of pursuing Jesus and of living your life well.