First what does the word weary mean? It means “very tired or fatigued. Fatigued, tired, weary, jaded, exhausted
washed out.”
As I was reading scripture and praying today I read in, Isaiah 50:4 “The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary,…” Since this passage of Scripture is speaking about Jesus it is safe to say. What would Jesus say to the weary?
Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.” Other versions say labored and heavy laden. Verse 29
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for you souls. 30)For My yoke is easy and My burden is
light.”
When we think of people being weary, we realize that they are
tired, exhausted or wear down perhaps even sadden. I believe those who are weary need others to
be like Jesus and carry their burdens with prayer and encouragement. Words of compassion and rest.
God comforts the weary he possesses true compassion for
people. His words talk life into the
weary person. He does not condemn them or
lecture them about what they need to do. He comforts them first and so should we.
So, being compassionate to the weary person is to say let them talk
and to express their emotions. To be
compassionate you must be able to relate to their suffering.
If I taught a class to young counselors, I would want to make
them imagine people’s pain so they can relate to it. But that relate to someone’s pain doesn’t
mean you bring up your pain. We all have
gone through pain in different ways. If
you’ve never lived with chronic pain it would be difficult to understand the
tension and stress it puts on your physical body plus emotional or
psychological aspect of it. These are
the things to be genuinely aware of to be empathetic to someone, that way you
are going to be able to relate with compassion.
Being compassionate doesn’t mean you let them know what to do or
you should be doing… It is important to
build the weary person up through your prayers and pray God strengthens them.
Then once their stronger and ask for advice then give your
thoughts on what works for you or what God has said etc.
I want to love as Jesus not as a pharisee. A pharisee does not have any compassion. They followed rules of must and laws. Jesus came to strengthen and free the
captives. He also came to heal and restore;
he loves building up the wounded not putting them out. Isaiah 42:3 “A bruised
reed he will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench…”
Secondly ask God to make you empathetic and compassionate like
Jesus. Because it was Jesus compassion which
brought healing. The bible says He was
moved with compassion and people were healed.
Mt 14:14 “And when Jesus went out, He saw a great multitude; and
He was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick.” Mt 20:34 “So Jesus had compassion and touched
their eyes. And immediately their eyes
received sight, and they followed Him.”
So, we can see Jesus’ first reaction is compassion and that’s
what people feel when offering a listening ear, help, kind words, prayer and
give loving support.
Teach or corrective instruction words just wound the weary,
hurting and downtrodden. You cannot be
an effective listener or the hands of Jesus if you cannot empathize with the weary,
hurting or downtrodden.
Corrected or instruct in private, love on the individual through
it, don’t dump on and go. God will go
through it with us and we could go through it with our family and friends
through the compassion and grace of God.
“My heart is for you says the Lord.” That is what the weary need to hear his compassion.
