When Fatigue and Fear Spread Faster Than the Work
Nehemiah 4:10-12; Galatians 6:9
What do you do when you are completely overwhelmed? When there are piles of laundry stacked up three deep, or when you are just one paragraph into a six-page paper that is due much sooner than you would prefer.
There are lots of ways that people can respond to situations like that—fight, flight, or freeze. For me personally, my response to being overwhelmed is to “freeze.” To shut down, check out, or decide the best use of my time is taking a nap.
As humans, we are often faced with things that overwhelm us. Sometimes it’s something mundane, like a pile of laundry, and other times it’s something major, like a project at work or an important task. There are also times when the thing we are facing is a spiritual battle—the energy to do your daily devotions, read the Bible, or forgive someone you know that God has called you to forgive.
These situations aren’t unique to our modern culture, and the tension we so often feel about the daunting work in front of us is the same as the Israelites felt in Nehemiah’s day, toiling and toiling to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Make no mistake, this was hard, hard work. Clearing endless piles of rubble and stone—a task so big that no matter how long you have been working, you look back and feel like you’ve made no progress. Overwhelming, discouraging, nap-inducing work. This is what Nehemiah records: “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall” (Nehemiah 4:10). Nehemiah records more of this hopelessness in the next verse: “And our enemies said, ‘They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work'” (Nehemiah 4:11). The situation in Jerusalem was dire. They needed to rebuild the walls in order to protect the city. This is a good thing! But the process is slow going, and as long as the walls remain incomplete, their enemies can simply walk into Jerusalem, kill them, and stop their work. If ever there was a time for haste, this would be it. But instead, the people of Israel grew weary, while under the looming threat of attack and death at the hands of their enemies.
But I think that is the trick of it. Rebuilding the wall in Jerusalem was supposed to be bigger than Israel alone could do on its own. Instead of being something Israel could accomplish or boast in, they were left with a task so big that the only response was dependence on God and a need for His strength and His guidance to keep doing the “good” thing. Instead of flight, fight, or freeze, Israel is instead being called to respond with God-dependence, faith, and perseverance.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul writes into very similar but also very different circumstances. He has just commanded the church in Galatia to restore those in sin with gentleness, and to bear one another’s burdens. These tasks may not seem like a collapsed city wall, but they are no less difficult for me to muster. Commands that are, if we are being really honest, both daunting and overwhelming. But Paul doesn’t leave the church without guidance—instead he offers them a challenge: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).
“Let us not grow weary of doing good…”
And that is the core of the issue in my heart—that I know many of the things in front of me are good. Just like Israel knows building the wall is good. Like the Galatians know that restoring the sinful gently is good. Things that, while challenging in the moment, are good for us and aligned with God’s heart and will.
So what do we do with a pile that is overwhelming? Paul does not tell us to grit our teeth and get through. His promise rests on the words “in due season,” which means the promised harvest comes on God’s timeline and not on our own. The thing we contribute is simply the faith and the perseverance. For someone like me, whose instinct is to freeze, that is good news! Freezing is often just weariness hiding as rest… but God invites us to bring that weariness to Him instead of hiding from it.
Question to Consider
What pile in front of you feels too big right now, and what would it look like to bring your weariness to God before reaching for fight, flight, or freeze?
Prayer Prompt
Prayer for strength when the rubble feels endless and our hands grow tired.
