The Kind of Tired Sleep Doesn’t Fix
When my son was a toddler, he spent several years with a feeding tube. He had just started sleeping through the night at three years old, and we instantly entered this stage of life. He mostly only did feeds at night while he was sleeping. Some nights he would roll over and kink the line, and the machine would start screeching in the middle of the night. Other nights you would have no clue what was wrong with it, and you’d try to fix it only for it to scream at you again 30 minutes later. Multiple times a week, I would be up countless times a night dealing with his feeds. This was on top of dealing with his chronic illness and having another child as well. I was a weary mom. It was a kind of tired sleep couldn’t touch.
Yet, even in moments like this, we must remember that Scripture isn’t another thing on our motherhood checklist. It nourishes those of us carrying the checklist.
God’s Word reminds us who God is when weariness distorts what we see
Our weakness isn’t something we have to overcome before approaching Him. It is where His strength meets us. God gives power to the faint and increases our strength (Isaiah 40:29).
When we reach the end of our rope, we aren’t left with nowhere to go. God is waiting for us to turn to Him and let him take the reins. Our situations won’t always make sense, and we won’t always know the next step. That is where knowing God’s wisdom is required.
When I am too tired to make sense of what God is doing, His Word reminds me who God is.
God’s Word steadies us when our emotions are louder than truth
Our feelings are real, but they aren’t always reliable interpreters of reality. Scripture gives us something solid to stand on when our internal narrative is shaky. Our emotions can cloud our judgment, and we need the lamp of Scripture to clear the fog and show us the path.
The weary mom doesn’t need to manufacture better thoughts. She needs truth strong enough to hold her when her own thoughts cannot.
God’s Word gives us enough for today
Sometimes we’re overwhelmed because we’re mentally trying to live tomorrow, next week, next semester, and next year while God is supplying grace for today. God tells us that each day has enough trouble on its own (Matthew 6:34). As hard as it may be, we need to focus solely on what is right in front of us and leave the rest in God’s trustworthy hands.
God gave the Israelites enough manna for each day. He could’ve given them a month’s worth at a time, but He wanted to teach them trust and faith. They had to rely on Him each and every day for their daily bread. The only time they got more than a day’s worth was on the sixth day so that they could prepare for the rest of the Sabbath. Then they could pull in two days’ worth, trusting His plan to rest.
God does not give us the strength to carry the whole season at once because He is teaching us to receive what we need from Him day by day. God doesn’t ask us, weary moms, to carry tomorrow with today’s strength. He will give us the strength we need each day.
God’s Word gives us language when we don’t have words of our own
Some seasons are just hard. No need to cushion that statement or brush around the reality of living in a broken world. It gets hard. We are tired and overwhelmed. Weary to our bones. Yet things keep piling on. And if you aren’t in a weary season right now, hide these truths in your heart for the day you need them. The fact is, there are days we feel we can’t go any longer, yet God is with us in the midst of that exhaustion and gives us the encouragement and strength we need through His Word.
God gave us Scriptures from people who sound weary in the Psalms. Overwhelmed, depressed, under attack, lost- you name it; I can probably point you to a Psalm written by someone who seems to be in the same boat. God included this in our Scriptures for a reason. He knew we would find ourselves weary, and He wanted us to see exactly where to turn in those moments.
Sometimes prayer itself feels exhausting. Scripture can become the language we borrow.
God’s Word doesn’t merely help us survive weariness—it draws us closer to the One sustaining us
In our weariness, we are invited to come to the Father and give Him our worries and burdens and allow Him to provide us rest. He doesn’t call us to get it all together to do this. He calls us to come to Him. That is the only requirement. Come.
The goal isn’t perfect quiet times. It’s cultivating a life of continually turning toward God—even when all we have to offer Him are a few weary minutes.
Some seasons, quiet time is hard. Finding the strength to get up early and spend an hour in the Word can feel insurmountable. Maybe all you have capacity for is one Psalm while drinking your coffee, or pray while folding laundry. Try changing your phone wallpaper to a Scripture to keep it fresh in your mind throughout the day. Small moments with God are real moments with God. Find what works for you and take a sacred moment.
You don’t have to come to God’s Word energized, focused, or put together. Come weary. The strength isn’t in how much you bring to the moment. The strength is in the God who meets you there.
