“As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” 2 Thessalonians 3:13 ESV
Reflection: how do you treat others when you are tired, even exhausted?
Working for a High Tech company, my regular workdays were typically 7am to about 5-6pm. Long days, in a fast pace environment, working on strategy, plans and projects, often leading and attending many daily meetings. And, when things got really busy, I had to take some additional time in the evenings and weekends to finish work and prepare for the next days. I am not complaining at all, as I absolutely loved what I was doing and (most of) the colleagues and customers I worked with. But, with many work and life demands on me in a sometimes stressful environment, I have to admit getting tired from time to time. Now, I know many are in similar situations, perhaps even much more demanding such as dealing with life and death situations, getting tired, even to a point of exhaustion might be common. So reading Paul’s command of “not growing weary” might not sit well with us at first. How can he “command” not getting tired?
But when we read the “fine print”, what he is actually saying, is “do not grow weary in doing good.” And interestingly, this “command”, or directive, comes right after a long paragraph dealing with people in the congregation that were lazy, and had no order on their personal lives. Paul even says that he and his team made an example for them to follow. Let’s read. “Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10 ESV. Wow. Strong words.
So Paul is saying here that not only is work good, but it is necessary for each person to work, to contribute with something. And, as stated above, long days working makes us all physically tired, and our bodies need rest and sleep. That is how God designed us. So Paul is obviously not saying “don’t get physically tired”. In fact, quite the opposite. He says work hard. Do your part to contribute to the congregation and the community, in whatever capacity God calls you to do. And, it is in this context, as we work hard, are physically tired, even to a point of exhaustion, Paul says,
“As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” 2 Thessalonians 3:13 ESV
Ahh, that makes more sense. Because, we know how easy it can be to “snap” at someone when we are physically tired. Our “fuse” becomes shorter. We might raise our voice, be irritable and even angry. We can lose our composure and even self-control. Take shortcuts, lash out, then blame it all on being tired. Paul says at all times “keep doing good”, even when we are exhausted. Now that takes a lot of strength, inner strength and peace, which can only come from the Lord. We are so familiar with Jesus words “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 ESV. While Jesus is talking about inner peace, giving Him the burdens of sin and shame we might be carrying around, spending time with Him is essential to “not grow weary of doing good”. So how can we make progress here, towards always doing good, regardless of being physically tired?
Personally, I made a commitment many years ago to always (as much as it was physically possible) spend the first two hours of the day with the Lord, praying, reading the Word of God, and writing down some thoughts. It is my “best time” of the day, when I feel “empty” after sleeping, ready to listen. This process has really helped me stay centered with the Lord, before giving anything to“the world”, before opening up any emails, messages, or entering into any meetings with others. Not to say that I don’t slip from time to time, saying something I regret when I am exhausted. But it really has helped me stay grounded in the Lord, helped me to choose to do good even when I easily could have snapped at someone. Unless you already have done so, I highly recommend setting a fixed and dedicated “quality time” to spend with the Lord, in prayer and reading the Bible.
Let us practice what Paul commanded of the early church to “not grow weary in doing good.”
