Now, more than two years beyond the official beginning of a world pandemic, women are drained. Worn. And, yes, weary.

In a recent article, Forbes deemed it the “exhaustion gap”.  While men experience the same issue, its symptoms seem exacerbated in women who limp along in isolation.

Merriam Webster defines weariness as “exhausted in strength, endurance, vigor, or freshness”.  But what does it mean to be weary according to scripture?

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What Does It Mean to Be Weary in the Bible? 

Nineteen different Hebrew and Greek words are used throughout the Bible to indicate weariness—each with a unique bent. 

Let’s consider a few verses that represent a variety of these.  

• John 4:6 (YLT) “…and there was there a well of Jacob. Jesus, therefore, having been weary from the journeying, was sitting thus on the well; it was as it were the sixth hour.” The original word, kopiao, means “to grow weary” because of physical labor.
   
• Luke 18:1 “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart…” (NKJV) 

Here, the transliteration lose heart is taken from ekkakeó. In other verses, such as 2 Thessalonians 2:13 the same word is read as weary or faint.  

• Galatians 6:9 reveals yet another glance through the prism as it combines the two words ek luó.   

 

“…for in due season we shall reap, if we (ekluó). 

 

Together the words mean to loosen or weaken one’s inner strength to the point of fainting. Have you been in that place before? Are you there now? 

 

• Used nineteen times in scripture and only in the Old Testament, laah infers difficulty or impatience and is most frequently included in the books of Job, Micah, and Jeremiah.  

 

Psalm 68:9 (NKJV) uses laah when it reads, “You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.” 

 

If you’d like, you can listen to me read portions of Psalm 68 here.  

 

• Meaning toiled, weary, or worn, yaga  0 the Old Testament. Psalm 6:6 offers a FRANK of yaga “I am weary with my groaning; All night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears.” 

 

Additional words translated weary can mean weary to the point of exhaustion, to become spiritually weakened, and hindered. 

Perhaps you relate to some of these definitions. You may be physically weary from a taxing schedule or an emotional load. Or, perhaps your heart is yaga—worn with grief. Strife. Struggle.  

It’s possible you’ve been in a wilderness season that seems to have stretched beyond your ability to bear it. You wonder if God has forgotten you. Left you in the cold, dark places of a barren wasteland as you grow close to the point of fainting. 

You wonder if God has forgotten you. Left you in the cold, dark places of a barren wasteland as you grow close to the point of fainting. Click To Tweet

Our situations may be different but I know the pain a mother experiences when her child suffers from mental illness. I understand the day-to-day struggle of managing poor health. I’ve walked through the struggle of trauma and know the dark nature of evil at its worst.  

The questions we ask come from a place of weariness. But God will use our wilderness experiences if we allow it. 

Three Ways God Uses the Wilderness 

 

God Uses the Wilderness to Reveal His Presence

When the Israelites marched out of Egypt into the wasteland, they expected a victory. Triumph. Deliverance. 

Instead, they faced fears of lack and remained in bondage to false beliefs.  

Still, God appeared “by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire”. He ushered them into a place of safety as Pharoah’s army shuddered in fear as the walls of the Red Sea imploded. The Lord roared like fire from Mount Sinai and shrouded the tabernacle with His presence. 

God’s chosen witnessed the miraculous, experienced His power, and lived in the Lord’s presence but they fretted, doubted, sinned, and grew weary. 

God’s chosen witnessed the miraculous, experienced His power, and lived in the Lord’s presence but they fretted, doubted, sinned, and grew weary. Click To Tweet

Can you relate? 

When a loved one receives a cancer diagnosis, mental illness in a loved one breaks my heart, or a relationship takes a sudden blow, I take on the character traits of an Israelite—certain the Lord will lead me straight to victory.  

And when the wilderness is hard and long, I, too, forget what I know of the Lord. I lose sight of the truth that the Holy Spirit dwells in me as the ever-present Comforter and Advocate. I disregard all of the times God has rescued me or my children. I linger in fear instead of the assurances He offers when I am still in His presence. 

But when I pause to pray? When I seek Him? I am reminded “He will never leave [us] nor forsake [us]”.  

God Uses the Wilderness to Demonstrate His Provision  

Lacking adequate water and food, the people soon forgot the many ways in which God had demonstrated His power before they escaped Egypt. Plagues of blood, the sudden overwhelming appearance of frogs, and a river defying the laws of gravity ceased to impress them when stomachs rumbled in hunger. 

The people lodged their complaint against Moses in Exodus 16:2-3, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” 

In His mercy, God “rained down bread from heaven” (Exodus 16:4). The fear of hunger vanquished, and each man, woman, and child had their fill of manna. 

The giver of all good things, God tenderly shepherds and cares for His children. While the provision He offers may look unlike that which we had envisioned, He will meet our needs.  

The giver of all good things, God tenderly shepherds and cares for His children. While the provision He offers may look unlike that which we had envisioned, He will meet our needs. #provision Click To Tweet

 

God Uses the Wilderness to Unveil His Promises 

While Israel camped at the base of Mount Siani, Moses communed with the Lord at the apex of the mountain. There, the Lord made a covenant with the prophet and His chosen people, affirming His love for them and setting them apart. (Exodus 16:10-11) 

If they obeyed the laws of the covenant, God would: 

• do wonders among them 
• drive out enemy nations 

 

During one of the darkest times of my life, I longed for relief from the inner turmoil and anguish of haunting memories and the impact they created on my everyday existence. I empathized with Job when he wrote, My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. (Job 10:1).  

The word, weary, also means loathe or grieve.  

My soul ached with pain—yet it was invisible. Unreachable. Unbearable. But, God. God knew the grief. The wounds. He knew my doubts, fears, and sins. And He walked with me through the barren places until I stepped my foot into the Promised Land.  

Healing.  

Oh, how long the journey. But peace beyond the parched lands of heartache abounds with His promises.  

  

God Uses the Wilderness to Purify His People  

While I would like to think my faith is unwavering, I fall into the same negative thoughts as the people of the Old Testament. When life takes an unexpected turn and I wander into my own wasteland experience, I sometimes cry out, “Is the Lord among us?” (Exodus 17:7) 

You, too?  

Even Moses failed to look to God early in his life. Exodus 2:11-12,15 (NIV)  records the result of his temper loosed on a slave driver and the impact on Moses’ life.  

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian. 

One vengeful decision landed Moses in the wilderness for forty years. There, God prepared his servant for leadership that extended beyond what would have been required of a palace prince. Instead of serving self, Moses offered his life to the Lord and a broken, needy people.  

In the process, God: 

• dismantled personal pride (Exodus 3:11) 
• gave Moses’ a new identity as the son of the heavenly King (Exodus 3:6) 
• promised Moses His power (Exodus 3:20) 

After that season, the prophet was purified. Prepared. And fully equipped for his purpose. 

How has God used a wilderness season to demonstrate provision, unveil His promises, or purify you?

Peace and grace,

Tammy

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