A Blessing for the Weary
Read it slowly: It's for you, not just about you.
To the one who is so exhausted and overwhelmed that they can’t even put words to how they feel:
Blessed are you, even now. Not when you finally rest. Now.
Blessed are you when the prayer won’t come, when the words run out, when all you can manage is to sit in the quiet and ache. The Father who made you does not require eloquence. The Spirit who prays inside you is near to the inarticulate, and has always been fluent in groaning.
Blessed are you when faith feels less like flying and more like holding your breath underwater. The holding on counts. It counts more than you know.
May you remember today that you are not your worst fears.
You are not your heaviest morning.
You are not the version of yourself you’re ashamed of at 3am.
You are held. Fragile, and held. By a Love that, in Jesus, did not stay at a safe distance from suffering but climbed all the way down into it, and has no intention of leaving.
So rest if you can. Cry if you need to. Get up if you’re able, and if you’re not, lie still and be loved anyway.
You don’t have to earn the next breath. It’s already yours.
Healing is holy. Keep going.
Mike Skinner is the founder of Cruciform Hope Ministries and currently serves as a chaplain for interdenominational high school students. He has over fifteen years in pastoral ministry and a Master of Arts in Theological Studies.