One of my biggest memories from my training for the El Paso Marathon a couple of years ago was the utter exhaustion that I felt having run from ten to twenty miles every weekend for two months or so. I remember getting sick in the middle of the training because my body was exhausted and my entire spirit felt discouraged. The biggest barrier preventing me from trying another marathon was the lack of seeing my family on Saturday mornings because of running for up to four hours and then being so exhausted the rest of the day. I was incredibly tired from the whole experience.
There have been other times that I have been exhausted as well. Those times were not because I was chasing a goal that I wanted to complete, but facing a time that I wished would have not happened at all. These times were experiencing the death of loved ones in my family or the death of Soldiers in my unit and enduring job challenges that would keep me up for nights on end. All of us will experience those times of exhaustion through heartache or stress. But, it is during these times that Jesus says to us: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 ESV) He promises that he will be there for us to give us rest when we are burdened or tired. He waits for us to come to him.
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