A Different Kind of Tired
There is a kind of tired I’m sure only Christians experience. Theologically, I say it because it is a spiritual tiredness, and foreign to the unregenerate mind:
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 1 Corinthians 2:14 (NASB)
The unregenerate mind is dead:
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins…even when we were dead in our transgressions…
Ephesians 2:1,5 (NASB)When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive… Colossians 2:13 (NASB)
And “coming alive” spiritually is that incident when the lights go on:
For this reason it says,
“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:14 (NASB)
At the heart of this change is a newness of life. The verses are endless on this point, and it’s a settled issue: before Christ, there was a spiritual life we never knew.
This newness of life also brings a different kind of tiredness unknown before. I have worked construction, landscaping, painting, bussing, waiting, and crossed a littany of fields and settings from the loading dock to the multibillion-dollar corporate boardroom. Throughout all these, including all my education experience, I have never seen this kind of tiredness.
Here’s an interesting description:
Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” Mark 5:30 (NASB)
Consider Paul’s strange tiredness:
So death works in us, but life in you. 2 Corinthians 4:12 (NASB)
…I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith…Philippians 2:17
I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls… 2 Corinthians 12:15 (NASB)
“the dying of Jesus…” It’s a combination of: victory, and sheer exhaustion, like coming off an intense roller-coaster ride with wobbly knees.
