5 Things You Can Do When the Year Is Long and You’re Road Weary

Maybe we weren’t ready for the pace of 2022, and in the wake of Thanksgiving, we find ourselves exhausted. Emptied. Road weary.

Do you feel it too? The shortness of these weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas? The pressure to say more yeses, but not to rest? The expectations we assume everyone else has of us? The need to pull over, stretch your legs, tilt your face skyward, taste the silence?

If life’s a road, the scenery’s been a blur. We’ve made up for lost time, but at a cost—to our faith, relationships, and well-being.

Our focal point shifts when we get busy. Away from God. Away from people. Away from what breaths life and fills us to overflowing.

If it’s not the things of God growing inside us, other things begin to ripple. Like comparison. Control. Pride. Worry.

You have permission to do December differently. Cup your hands around a mug of hot tea. Say no to something you don’t have the capacity for. Make space in your heart for good things to flourish.

Truth is that you were made for wholly-alive living, not just surviving. Missional living in the everyday, not just the margins. And in order to get there, we need to refuel when we’re depleted.

Five ways to refuel when you’re road weary

Here are five ways to refuel when you’re road weary, all taken from the book of 1 Peter, where I’ve been lingering for a while.

1. Enfold your life into the Creator

1 Peter 4:19 beckons us to “enfold [our] lives into the Creator.” Although the invitation was originally given to an audience being persecuted for their faith, where better should we run when we’re fatigued than to the One “who will never fail [us]”?

According to the Brittanica, enfold means “to cover (someone or something) completely” or “to hold (someone or something) in your arms.” I think of folding egg whites into waffle batter. Holding my big-hearted little boy in a long hug. Coming home into the welcome warmth.

Practically speaking, how do we enfold our lives into God?

I think it looks like running to Him with sincere, child-like trust. Being held, and safe, and loved.

2. Cultivate what is good

When we’re worn out, we say words in haste, frustration, distraction. We unintentionally hurt those around us. We grow selfishness, not gentle grace. We defend. Justify. Minimalize.

But numbing our exhaustion only amplifies it. In order to begin thriving, we must first turn toward the things we want to grow.

1 Peter 3:10b-11a tells us that

Whoever wants to embrace true life

and find beauty in each day

must stop speaking evil, hurtful words

and never deceive in what they say.

Always turn from what is wrong

and cultivate what is good . . .
TPT

We can focus on the lack, or we can name what’s good. Plant gratitude. Grow love, grace, gentleness, joy.

3. Leave your worries at the feet of Jesus

Sometimes all the things that could go wrong sneak into your brain. They cripple you. Steal your joy. Deplete your strength.

Maybe you’re in a season that feels like an uphill climb through cold Malt-O-Meal. You’re exerting a whole lot of effort but making slow progress.

Here’s our answer, found in 1 Peter 5:7,

Pour out all your worries and stress upon him and leave them there, for he always tenderly cares for you.
TPT

When Jesus says all, He’s not just being nice. He means it. He’s here for all the things that weigh you down, stress you out, consume your mind. And not only does He listen, He shoulders your burden. He takes it from you so you don’t have to carry it anymore.

4. Bow low

There’s a chapter in Ann Voskamp’s book One Thousand Gifts that I return to often. It’s the one titled “go lower.” At the crux of the chapter is a quote by F.B. Meyer. Let’s read it together:

I used to think that God’s gifts were on shelves one above the other, and that the taller we grew in Christian character the easier we should reach them. I find now that God’s gifts are on shelves one beneath the other, and that it is not a question of growing taller but of stooping lower, and that we have to go down, always down, to get His best gifts.
F.B. Meyer

Later in the chapter, Ann writes that “Eucharisteo makes the knees the vantage point of a life.”

Eucharisteo makes the knees the vantage point of a life. Ann Voskamp quote

When we’re tired, we fall to our knees, choose to praise Him, trust the promise in 1 Peter 5:6,

If you bow low in God’s awesome presence, he will eventually exalt you as you leave the timing in his hands.
TPT

5. Serve others with your grace gifts

I left this one for the end because when we’re wrapped in God’s great arms, producing fruit of the Spirit, exchanging worry for God’s peace, and embracing humility, we’re not only refueled, we naturally overflow.

1 Peter 4:10 urges us to “use [our grace gifts] to serve one another as faithful stewards of the many-colored tapestry of God’s grace” (TPT).

It may seem paradoxical that pouring out gives us more to give, but open hands hold more than closed fists. So let’s lead with open hands, sowing seeds of love, kindness, and generosity. Steward the gifts God’s blessed us with by using them to bless those around us. Share the things God is doing inside us so they can ripple out to others.

A prayer for December

May we choose this month to be compassionate to ourselves. Acknowledge our weariness. Invite God to refuel us.

May we find grace to enfold ourselves into Christ, cultivate what is good, leave our worry and stress at the feet of Jesus, bow low, and be wise stewards of God’s grace gifts.

May we find soul-rest, peace, joy, and anticipation.

May we seek, savor, and thank the One we celebrate—not just on Christmas Day, but every day.

Just a friend over here in your corner,

Word-of-the-year ideas!

Let’s start neighboring the uncomplicated way!

Have you ever wished the people who live next to you were not just your neighbors, but your friends? The sort of friends who know the messy stuff and walk with you through it. Share meals, watch each other’s kids, generously lend tools, that ingredient you can’t cook dinner without, time.