Tired and Weary

Camino life is many different moving pieces of life all piled into one. Every day is different in its own way, and each day is a new day. There is new scenery, new coffee, new community, new food, and so much room for the Lord to move! The Camino is a long journey, each day consists of a walking challenge as we hike on average about 13 miles a day. Through this experience I have really been able to reflect on all his creation and praise him for his beauty. I have truly learned what it looks like to depend on him morning after morning. Each new day begins with a morning walk where the moonlight lights up our path, followed by a beautiful day with a sunrise that paints the sky and sun that kisses our cheeks. We walk for a few miles every morning before we begin to become weak and need to stop for a  place to fuel with more energy.

So, tired and weary what is so special about these words? To be tired is to be in need of sleep and rest; weary. To be weary is to feel or show extreme tiredness, especially as a result of excessive exertion. There are about 96 instances in the Bible where feeling weary is expressed. But through those instances the Lord sustains and provides ultimate rest. 

 While walking for miles on end with our packs my team and I begin to grow tired and weary. Our feet begin to ache , old injuries may begin flaring up, blisters start popping out of nowhere, and so much more. Therefore, these words have been moving around my head because as I am currently in Spain walking along the Camino my muscles have began to feel tired and weary.

There was one specific day this past week where my team and I had several miles to hike to make it to our next location for the night. The further into our journey we got the more terrain we began to come across with rolling hills and elevation incline. As we had been walking through the day we came across one very large hill. It was long and steep. We probably already acquired six miles by this point, so to make it up this steep hill took motivation to push through the burn in the muscle, and keep going till we made it to the top. Once we arrived at the top it would only get better from there. When approaching this hill my team and I were also approaching lunch time, and as we had been hiking for many miles not only were we beginning to become hungry, but we also began to grow tired and weary. We took on the hill and began to climb. Once we made it to the top little did we know there was a stand where you could place a donation and replenish our bodies with fruits, pastries, caffeine, a variety of juice, and so much more. There was community with places to sit and rest. The hill was worth the climb because of the rest and replenishment we were all able to receive at the top. This simply reminded me of life with Christ. Not only did this specific moment occur but every day in the morning my team and I will come across somewhere to replenish us and fill us. A place for refreshments, time to sit, time to rest, time to fellowship, and time to hydrate. In the same way the Lord guides us to him. In John 4:14 it say “but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” When we run to the father with thirst he is our well. When we hunger he can sustain. We can come to him weary and burdened and find rest. (Matthew 11:28)

In our walk with God often we may become tired and weary from our day to day experiences. We become tired and weary when we are not going to the father to sustain us. The Lord replenishes our thirst and fills our hunger. Therefore, when we are tired and weary we can go to the father. We can walk to him in the depths of pain, and he will refill us.