When do we need to heed exhaustion?

Just recently, I had a week away. For most people, this is no big deal. But for me, it was beyond beautiful.

Beautiful because the last time I had a week away was 21 months ago, in August 2023. Beautiful because I spent it in one of my favourite parts of the UK. And beautiful because I returned home feeling rested and rejuvenated.

Those of you who have been tracking with me closely will know that I have been in an intense season of caring for my aging parents. For a long time, both were unwell, simultaneously, but in totally different ways – which meant that taking time out was difficult. (See here and here for context.)

Now that I’m emerging out the other side, I have been acutely aware of low-lying exhaustion. So to have a week off, largely free from my ongoing caring responsibilities, was bliss – and made even better because it included a screen-free digital detox!

But it’s also got me thinking about exhaustion: When should we ignore it, push through and keep going? When do we need to heed it? How do we discern the difference? As a result, it’s seeded this, my ‘thought for the month’ for May.

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Just recently, I was reading the story of Gideon, when a phrase seemed to leap off the page and grab my attention, from Judges 8:4: “ … exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit … ”

The context here is that Gideon and the Israelites are contending with a powerful and oppressive neighbouring nation, whose people keep invading their land, ruining their crops and killing their livestock. The destruction is so pervasive that the Israelites keep hiding in mountain clefts and caves, fearful for their lives.

Gideon is no exception. He is so scared of the marauding enemy that he hides in a winepress – not to crush grapes, but to thresh wheat.

An angel visits him, while he’s in hiding, to tell him that God views him as a ‘mighty warrior’ – something he disagrees with vehemently because he simply isn’t feeling it. (See Judges 6:12.)

By the time we reach the phrase, “exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit”, God has given Gideon an army of 32,000 men, reduced it to 300 – and then, against all the odds, given them a significant victory in battle.

But the rest of the enemy army lies on the other side of the River Jordan – and God has told Gideon that he needs to complete the job; partial victory is not enough.

So: “Gideon and his 300 men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the [River] Jordan and crossed it.” (Judges 8:4)

They are famished and parched. They are aching and weary. Their energy is waning. They desperately want to stop.

But Gideon, God’s ‘mighty warrior’, insists there is no room for comfort or compromise. So, “exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit”, they lean into God to help them deliver what’s needed – and they keep going.

It’s only later that they can rest and recharge.

Once victory is complete. Once their God-given assignment is finished. Once they know there is nothing left for them to do.

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As I think back over the past 21 months, to the last time I had a week away, I realise how much I have been like Gideon and his 300 men.

I have been “exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit”.

I had to keep going, keep giving out, keep caring for my parents – even when it was difficult. I had to honour the assignment God had given me to support them in their season of old age. I had to rely on God to help me deliver what he was asking of me, in conjunction with the handful of people he had placed around me to support me.

So taking time away was tricky.

But then, like Gideon and his 300 men, I reached the point where I could finally rest and recharge.

So this month’s week away has been timely – and I have returned home replenished and ready to write.

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What about you?

What has God called you to do? What specific task has he asked you to deliver in this season? And who has he placed around you to support you in it? Who are your equivalent of Gideon’s 300 men?

Maybe you are, “exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit”?

If this is you, take heart and keep going!

Lean into the Lord, and let him sustain you (and those around you) with the energy you need to endure – until the victory he wants to give you is achieved.

Then, when the task is completed, take heed of your exhaustion – and take time out to rest and recover.

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As ever, constructive comments are welcome below.  

(Please note: This is my ‘thought for the month’ reflection for May. You can find all my ‘thought for the month’ reflections here.)

Photo by Dogukan Sahin via Unsplash