“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” — Isaiah 40:30-31
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One time I was watching a cross-country ski race and heard a commentator talk about the challenge, especially in long distance racing, of dealing with your tiredness. They said that “you can get in a very dark place when you get tired, but then you get a second wind.” This is why a skier could be competing for an extensive period of time and still have the strength inside to push down the stretch toward the finish line. They can be dead tired, but when it matters most, they find that little extra gear that helps get them to the end.
In life as in sports, tiredness has a definite downside. Studies have shown for years that the impact of tiredness on mental, physical and emotional performance and production is massive. Anything from not getting enough sleep to being stressed over something, or even going through a difficult time, can be a drag on the brain and its ability to function. That is why how you manage the weariness makes all the difference in the world.
Being tired is human. We may have this unrealistic picture that we’re never supposed to be tired or worn down, but the truth is, life has many ways of wearing us out in some way. There will be many moments along the journey where we just feel like we don’t have it in us to keep going and we start to fight our negative thoughts as a result. That “dark place” happens to all of us when we hit that proverbial “wall” and start to question and doubt even the things like our faith that once seemed so certain.
But the other reality is, the second wind always comes. God enables us to find strength in situations when we honestly can’t find explanation for how we’re getting through. There are moments we can point to where we say, “Only God could’ve given me what I needed to do that because I seriously didn’t have it in myself to keep moving.” The famous verse in Isaiah 40 that talks about how “those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength” (above) is a promise to us in those heavy moments when the weariness is kicking in and we are struggling to continue. In God, we find a limitless storehouse with everything we need, and all we must do is simply tap into that and ask Him for it.
It’s important to remember that God’s strength is perfected in our weakness. The famed pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote that “man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” The times you find yourself failing are precisely the times God most wants to minister to you and help you find that second wind. So don’t despair if you’ve hit that wall and are in that “dark place” for a time. If you just keep moving, the second wind will come. You can do this because He can!
— Katherine Singer
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