Do Not Grow Weary

2 Thessalonians 3:13

This is a very practical and necessary exhortation that Paul gave. This is the very crux of the matter.

Concerning this topic we have a unique, clear, and incredible “Bible study” in Isaiah 40:28-31.

1. God does not grow weary in working with us.

2. Youth and young men—the most vigorous and strongest among men—grow weary and stumble. How much more will not all the others grow weary?

3. “But those [whether they are young and strong or older and weaker, whether they are men or women] who wait on the Lord . . . they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

There are two essential things of which we grow weary. One of them is God’s work with us. We grow tired of acknowledging and humbling ourselves, tired of cleansing and purifying ourselves, tired of correcting and changing our life. We think that now it is enough. We consider His untiring and valuable work with us as a bother. It is painful to humble yourself and give up your own will, and this is the very thing of which we get tired.

The other essential thing of which we grow weary is doing good to others, working with the others, because this work is laborious since the result is so small. So much is required, and things proceed so slowly. One grows weary because of all this toil. In other words, one gets tired of being worked with by the others and working with others.

This is what man is like in harmony with verse 30.

Both spirit and body grow weary. “The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit?” Prov. 18:14. Therefore: if only the spirit does not grow weary things are alright even with a sick body; but if the spirit grows weary, then even a strong body cannot hold out.

The most important thing is for our spirit or our mind not to grow weary. However, God strengthens both spirit and body.

The assertion or the promise in Isaiah 40:31 is one of the strongest I have ever noticed. If we take it to heart, it will have unforeseeable consequences in our life for our own and for other people’s salvation.

These words by Isaiah are in harmony with David’s words in Psalm 103:5: “Who satisfies your soul with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Learned men in this world attempt in vain to discover a rejuvenation process. It is actually quite superfluous because there has for a long time been a reliable recipe for it in Isaiah 40:31 and Psalm 103:5.

Let us all wait on the Lord, and let us satiate ourselves with God’s manifold goodness.

Elias Aslaksen