Third Shift

Growing Daily

Third Shift

I have a friend who worked the night shift years ago.  He juggled crazy hours, holidays, and overtime, all while raising young kids.  Not surprisingly, every time a family picture appeared on social media, he looked utterly exhausted... like he’d been awakened from a dead sleep for one purpose only:  “Say cheeeeese!”

That fatigue captured a real moment, but it didn’t tell his whole story.  It showed one season, not his identity as a father, a husband, or a man doing his best.

When we’re tired for a long time, it can begin to feel permanent.  We stop saying, “I’m tired,” and start thinking, “This is who I am now.” But Scripture reminds us that seasons change, even when they linger longer than we’d like.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity.”  Life unfolds in phases we don’t always choose or control.  Some are joyful; others are heavy. 

God sees beyond the burnout you may feel today. He sees what you've carried — and even now He’s at work, sustaining you and supplying the strength you need (Isaiah 40:31). 

The exhaustion is real, but it’s not the final word. 


- Ron Reid

 


- Ron Reid