14 Things To Do When You Are Very Tired

As I shared in my last post, I am very prone to exhausting myself if I’m not careful, and I have realised through experience how dangerous that can be, as it can discourage me and make me a lot less effective.

I do want to say though, that I am not saying we shouldn’t work hard or get tired! Jesus got tired and had to rest, and I personally believe in working as hard as I can and doing my best. But I have also found that I have to be careful because there are times that I overdo it, and then I’m no good to anyone!

Here are some things I have found to be helpful when I am very tired:

1. Rest – this is obvious but we don’t always do it! It took me five years of raising children before I finally took my mother’s advice and started taking time to lie down with my feet up for some time each afternoon! And it makes a world of difference. ‘Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well.’ John 4:6

2. Retreat – ‘He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.’ Mark 6:3 The deserted place is important to give your mind and soul rest.

Last year I was blessed to be able to go to a Pastor’s wives’ retreat, and I was able to get quietness, rest and also spiritual input and reflection time, which was invaluable.

3. Treat yourself – I got a lot of ideas about this from Sally Clarkson’s blog. This week when I was exhausted my sweet husband bought us all lunch, and then reheated the dinner – so having a loving husband helps!

When Elijah was weary and discouraged, an angel went and gave him food and drink – I think of this as God treating him 🙂

4. Prioritise – when I am feeling very frazzled I try to do less, so I think about what really needs to be done and what I could skip. Time with the Lord is the most important!

5. Go to God – “For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes.” Jer 31:25  God refreshes the weary. I have come to the conclusion that when we are tired we need to spend more time with God, rather than less.

6. Take advantage of Christ’s strength – ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness’ 2 Cor 12:9. Paul actually liked times of weakness because then Christ’s power would rest on Him.

But we need to go to God to ask for His help and strength, not try to keep marching on all by ourselves.

7. Surround yourself with encouraging people – it can really help to hear the right words when you are tired. I like to follow people who post Christian tweets on Twitter – then it doesn’t take long for me to find some good tweets and blogs to be encouraged by.

8. Remember your goals – I find I can get so tired that I lose sight of my purpose and get discouraged. So I have found it helpful to remind myself of what God has called me to do.

9. Make sure you’re in God’s will – how often I have been worn out because I have taken on things that I wasn’t supposed to, and didn’t realise till I took time to stop and pray about it! I have found that if I am consistently tired then I need to really evaluate and pray hard about all the things that I do.

10. Check if you are in sin – God’s chastening can make you weak, and though obviously this is not always the case, it is worth reflecting and praying about if the tiredness is continual.

11. Remember God’s promises – sometimes it is a day or a season where we just have to keep going. But God says ‘Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.’ Gal 6:9.

If we are doing what God has called us to do, then we can rest on His promise that we will see fruit, and be encouraged to press on.

12. Fix your eyes on Jesus – if we remember that He went to the cross and endured so much, then we realise that we haven’t suffered that badly yet, and also that He has gone through it before us, which is comforting.

13. Look to heaven – as I said recently, I love to think about heaven because it gives me hope and joy for the day when there will be no more tiredness, sin or pain. We will be at rest. When you are running a race, fixing your eyes on the finishing line helps you press through the fatigue till you get there!

14. Glorify God – it took me a LONG time before I realised that continual tiredness is just like any other trial in that God is in control. Therefore complaining is complaining against God who allowed it, and I should still be aiming to glorify God through it.

And I don’t think He means us to be wandering around lifelessly drained of all energy!

These things all help me to get back on my feet when I am at the point of exhaustion, so I can serve the King!

I would love to hear if you have any other helpful things you do when you are worn out.