Before I share a dictionary definition, let me ask a question. Do you ever suffer from Church fatigue? One definition states “extreme tiredness resulting from mental or physical exertion or illness,” but in the context of the question, I prefer a comment from an old man some years ago: “My get-up-and-go has got up and went”.
This subject arose one Sunday morning, listening to some Christian music and feeling as though I couldn’t be bothered to go to the morning service. That I was responsible for a small part in the service helped me recognise that, as I was not ill, there was no valid reason to stay at home. On arrival at the building, I was offered a drink, sat with a few friends and chatted before the service started, and at the end of the service was so pleased “fatigue” hadn’t kept me away.
Trying to analyse why, later, I thought it would be easy to blame old age or the heat, to name only two. Over ten years ago, during a course of radiotherapy, in the vast amount of literature I was given, one phrase often comes to mind even now: “if you are feeling tired, get up and do something”. That has often been a stimulus to resist the temptation to stay in a chair and snooze.
It would have been easy, that Sunday morning, to watch an online church service, even falling asleep and missing parts of it. But, of course, many aspects of the service I attended would not have been available sitting at home. PRAYER: Heavenly Father, whenever we feel too tired to attend church services, or anything else important, please help us to know if we need rest or restoration. AMEN