Week 1: Acknowledge Weariness
Saturday Dec 09
Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass;
their constancy is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers; the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him
and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms
and carry them in his bosom
and gently lead the mother sheep.
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and assert, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint
and strengthens the powerless.
Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted,
but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:1-11, 27-31
When you think about wilderness and desert what images, sounds, smells, and perhaps memories come to mind?
What feelings do those mental images conjure?
Wilderness can be exciting or peaceful. The desert can be mesmerizing and awe inspiring. They can also be disorienting, frightening, dangerous, and exhausting.
Fluorescent lit hallways and rooms full of beeping machines probably aren’t the images in your mind right now. In my work as a hospital chaplain, the halls and rooms of UNC can sometimes feel like the wilderness. My paths are unmarked. I am not sure what I am going to find on my next shift or in the next room.
Some of the situations I encounter are unsettling or downright scary. For patients and families, the hospital can feel like the desert. Healing or discharge seemed close, but was only a mirage. Unplanned surgeries call for no eating or drinking, leaving mouths dry. The waiting period feels like forever.
What do we do when the weariness of the wilderness lasts longer than we expected, seeping into our bones and exhausting our strength?
Isaiah reminds us that the God who loves us never grows weary or tired.
There are days when I walk into the hospital with little to give. Those are the days I recognize most clearly it is in fact not my strength that sustains me, but God’s strength. Thank God for that. Even in my work, there is too much weariness for one person to hold. It is only God who is big enough to hold me and my weariness. It is only God who can fully know and feel the pain and sorrow of our world.
It is God who is big enough to turn the wilderness into pleasant paths and the desert into lush rainforest.
What weariness are you carrying today that God is inviting you to pass over to him?
Memory Passage
A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God."
— Isaiah 40:3
Weekly Practice
Write a list of everything that makes you weary. Rip it up.
Reach out to someone who might be feeling weary. Tell them, “I’ve been thinking about you.”
Breathe deeply and pray. With every exhale, release something that makes you weary. With every inhale, ask God for something that brings you joy.