Try to Tend
By: Gena Anderson
In vain you get up early and stay up late, working hard to have enough food –– yes, he gives sleep to the one he loves, Psalms 127:2, CSB.
In a study on rest I was exploring, the author asked where I was feeling weary. The answer that surfaced was not a specific facet of life, like parenting or career, but more of a general pattern of experiencing life that had occurred. I was suddenly aware that I was tired of trying. Not in a morbid sense, though I greatly sympathize with the many who struggle with wanting to give up. My fatigue was more in regard to putting forth my best and receiving mediocre returns.
Some examples include writing a blog faithfully to have rare acknowledgement of any reach to a live human, pinching pennies for months to have a large expense wipe out all the savings, or going to great lengths to care for a patient only to have a half-informed family member call to complain. Perhaps the beast of all disappointments is preparing a near-gourmet dinner to have my family snub their noses. Okay, using the word gourmet to describe a crockpot casserole is a stretch, but the piling on of weariness is valid. My trying seemed to be in vain, and when that happens repeatedly one tends to become discouraged, if not disillusioned.
If I had to guess I would bet you know what I’m talking about. God designed us to need rest and then commanded us to implement resting in him regularly. Yet, sometimes we work too long and hard, missing out on sleep, trying to get ahead, and forgetting our loving father cares for our needs while we rest. Most of us have experienced the disappointment of extravagant efforts that are less fruitful than we hoped, and when that happens we wonder why we should keep trying.
As I prayed over the study on rest, and my weariness with trying, the Lord spoke a new idea into my heart. Sometimes we don’t need to stop trying as much as we need to start tending. It is strange how a quarter turn can change the trajectory. A small pivot from ‘try’ is ‘tend.’ Trying implies putting forth our own effort, using our own strength and talents. The idea of tending is more benevolent, and makes us think of protecting and cultivating something that has been placed in our care. The effort is there, but the purpose of tending is to have the rosebush bloom, not be praised for the pruning.
Weariness from trying comes from a self-reliant persistence. Perhaps we persist for recognition, money, or to meet a need. Whatever the motive, it represents a lack of faith that God will provide the nourishment and nurturing to meet every need, and he provides endurance to run the race before us. So, instead of trying to reach others with my words I have to tend the gift of writing and release the outcome to him. I have to tend the relationships he has entrusted to me without expecting in return. Tending allows the father to nourish and nurture the world through us, whereas trying can stifle and steal the joy of seeing him work because we are too busy to notice.
What has God entrusted to you that you feel weary in carrying out? How can you tend, instead of try, in this area?
