What to do when you’re emotionally drained
Most people's lives have been picking back up and becoming just as busy, if not more, than before the pandemic. Especially in the summer, there are three picnics every weekend, a vacation to plan, and your usual 40+ hour workweek. Even if you love what you are doing it can still drain you. Even if you love your job you still need to recharge.
Psalm 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
I read the above verse and I am reminded to look back at where I am getting my strength. I, by myself, do not have enough strength to get me through the instability of life. If I rely on myself for too long, I become irritable, tired, and fearful. I tend to listen solely to my own thoughts and feelings instead of God’s wisdom.
I can have a plan for how I want my day to go but one phone call could change my whole day if not my whole life. We can not predict or know what is going to happen that may affect us in a negative or positive way. That is why we need to go to the one who is consistent. This world lives on inconsistency, that is why fad diets and fashion trends do so well for such a short time. People get bored and constantly look for what’s next instead of looking for what’s always been.
The author of this Psalm knows that our bodies are not enough and will eventually fail us. God is everlasting and he is incapable of failure which is why he writes that God is his source of strength.
I recently had a stressful day and I found I had nothing left to give. I had no ideas to share or lessons to write, I was drained. It wasn’t the stressful day that led to me being empty, it was the decisions I made prior. The decision to not rest, the decision to not pray, or the decision to rely on me. So I decided that I would dedicate that day to being taught instead of teaching and to reading instead of writing. I spent time in the Bible, read a couple of devotions, exercised, and prayed. I slowly started to feel like myself again.
If you're like me then you may need a routine, I decided that every morning I am going to schedule time with God to make sure my day never gets too busy for Him. Make time in your life to be with the one who created life. If I think I can do it all by myself I am quickly reminded that I do not have enough strength on my own, and that is okay because that is not how he created us.
